Mercè and Joan

Mercè and Joan brings to life the passionate and turbulent love story of Mercè Rodoreda and Armand Obiols, set against the backdrop of war and exile

She is a thirty-year-old novelist, brimming with vitality and ambition. He is a razor-sharp columnist, cultured and incisive. Their paths cross in 1939 at the gardens of Château de Roissy-en-Brie, a haven for writers and intellectuals fleeing the war, including Joan Oliver, Anna Murià, Francesc Trabal, and Pere Calders. It is here that one of the most controversial and tempestuous literary romances begins.

In these pages, Rodoreda and Obiols transform into Mercè and Joan—the names they reserved for each other. Their deep connection, anchored in a shared love of literature, became so consuming that it estranged them from their families and friends. From Paris to Bordeaux and Limoges, their love
unfolded amidst some of the most harrowing chapters of 20th-century Europe.