The Time of Cherries
Publisher,Daunt Books
Publication Date,
Format, Paperback
Weight,
No. of Pages, 303
Spring, 1974. After twelve years abroad, Natàlia Miralpeix returns to Barcelona and her family. Change is in the air: revolution sexual, political and artistic is simmering. Franco may still be in power, but his death is only two years away. The younger generation write poetry, listen to Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and talk of a freer future. The older generation, though, carry the hidden wounds of the Civil War, their divided loyalties, and their own thwarted dreams, rebellions and desires.
Translated here for the first time into English, Montserrat Roig’s The Time of Cherries is a beloved classic of Catalan literature, bold and startlingly fresh. As it dips in out of timelines, stories and voices, it evokes a heady, captivating Barcelona that is as smoky, gritty and troubled as it is romantic and sun-kissed; a city and a people striving to leave the ghosts of the past behind, find a place in this invigorating new world and bring in the time of cherries, the springtime of joy.
Praise for Montserrat Roig
‘Montserrat Roig, before her untimely death, was a shining light of Catalan literature.’ Colm Tóibín
‘A remarkable writer, who, though not always comfortable to read, is always searingly honest.’ Margaret Jull Costa
‘Roig’s writing leaves the reader with a vivid sense of time and place, but also invites them to consider how quickly real lives become fable, how easily we absorb war, oppression and pain into our collective memory.’ Lunate
‘In two decades of incredible, inspirational writing, Montserrat Roig left an indelible mark on Catalan literature.’ Jordi Nopca
‘Roig wields language as a weapon against political and social “dismemory”, giving voice to those who are otherwise silent, especially women and the elderly.’ Times Literary Supplement
About the Author
Montserrat Roig i Fransitorra was born in 1946. A Catalan writer of novels, short stories and articles, in 1970, Roig won the Víctor Català prize for Molta roba i poc sabó... i tan neta que la volen, a compilation of short stories, and began to dedicate herself to writing literature. Her novel El temps de les cireres (The Time of Cherries) was awarded the Premi Sant Jordi de novella in 1976.
Roig was a member of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana and vice-president of its Junta Territorial del Principat de Catalunya. She worked as a lecturer in Catalan and Spanish at the University of Bristol from 1972–1973, and went on to hold positions at the universities of Strathclyde and Arizona. She died in 1991.
Julia Sanches has authored more than a dozen translations from Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan into English. Her translations and writing have appeared in Granta, LitHub, The Paris Review Daily, and The Common, among others. She has received support for her work from the PEN Heim grant, PEN Translates, and the New York State Council of the Arts. Born in Brazil, Julia now lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
- Dimensions : 12.9 x 2.5 x 19.8 cm
