The Time of the Doves

I loved this novel. It made me feel a lot of things. From the opening alone I was quite captivated by it. Natalia’s narration feels so raw and direct. Even when describing something small, it felt like it carried so much weight with it. I can’t really put it into words.

Immediately Quimet pissed me off. I hated his stupid motorcycle. I hated how he got to have his interests and do as he pleases while controlling Natalia all the while. The act of naming her and calling her “‘Colometa” annoyed me, and then I kept reading, and it got worse. One moment in particular that I recall is when she bought herself cups. “One day I saw some very pretty hot-chocolate cups and I bought six of them: all white. And when Quimet saw them he got mad: ‘What are we going to do with those hot-chocolate cups?'” (44). My heart broke. I remember after I read this I noted down that I hated him and wished he’d just leave her alone. Why is he allowed to go on and on about his damn motorcycle and go out and buy one and she can’t buy 6 cups that she thought were pretty.. like girl whatever. And I should probably mention something else beside the irritation that Quimet incited within me but now that I’ve started writing this I’m slowly remembering things that happened. Like him building their son a wooden box when he is less than a year old so he can take him around on his stupid ass motorcycle (73). I really don’t care about this motorcycle. When she gets the nosebleed and the waiter goes to the washroom to help her and he gets mad at the waiter for helping her? But he didn’t want to help her because she “was big enough to go alone?” (46). Also her describing little details of her day and the lack of consideration that he has for her. “The next morning he’d jump out of bed like a whirlwind and throw back the blankets without looking to see if he was uncovering me. He’d go out on the balcony and take deep breaths. Then he’d make a big racket washing up and come into the dining room singing.” (47).  The way that Natalia has to reserve herself around him. She must stay guarded and like Enriqueta said, she shouldn’t tell Quimet her weak spots because he might take advantage of that and cause her suffering (48). She can’t buy things that she wants in peace. She can’t interact with any other man because Quimet gets angry. She cannot do ANYTHING. I just hated him.

Besides that, Natalia’s journey through everything – marriage, motherhood, war, grief – was so beautiful. I can’t even explain all of the emotions that I felt while reading this. There was so much that stuck with me and this probably should’ve been more of an actual analysis and whatnot… but I ended up ranting about Quimet the entire post. Sorry!

Question: Which moment in Natalia’s journey stuck with you the most?