What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours

Montserrat, known as Montse, is an orphan who grows up with monks, knowing nothing about her parents or where she came from. She is named for the monks’ chapel, Santa Maria de Montserrat. This is an actual chapel in Catalonia; it bears the name of the Madonna and Child statue located there, depicted as Black. In the story, this reassured Montserrat’s mother that Montserrat would be safe there as a Black child.

Montserrat wears a golden key around her neck that was left to her by her mother. She appears only once in the collection—in the first story, “Books and Roses.” The story reveals that her mother, Aurelie, once worked in the mansion of an extremely rich man, Señor Zacarias Salazar. Similarly, as an adult, Montserrat goes to work in a building as a laundry maid, unaware of the inheritance that awaits her behind the door that her key unlocks.

Montserrat forms a connection with a woman named Lucy, who lives in the building where she works and also wears a key. Their relationship is never solidly romantic; however, it does parallel the two prominent romances in the story, between Aurelie and Isidoro and between Lucy and her previous love, Safiye.