From Franco's prisons to Nazi extermination camps, Mercedes Núñez Targa, a twentieth-century woman of conviction, (Barcelona 1911-Vigo 1986), tells her incredible odyssey. The story is told in the first person with sincerity and talent, mixing autobiography with sociological analysis, and her testimony is made especially interesting by the female perspective of the narrative. On 14th April 1931 Mercedes welcomed in the proclamation of the Second Republic. In 1934 she became Pablo Neruda's secretary when he was the Chilean consul in Barcelona. On 18th June 1936 Franco's military coup took place. But Mercedes would pay for her commitment to the values of the Republic with her freedom.