Summary

The opening short story, “books and roses,” begins: “Once upon a time in Catalonia a baby was found in a chapel” (1). There is a golden chain with a key around the baby’s neck. The monk who finds the baby also finds a two-part note tucked into its clothes. The first note calls the baby a “Black Madonna” (2) and requests that it be named “Montserrat.” The second note says, “Wait for me” (2). The girl is taken in by the monks who indulge and love her. She is occasionally bullied in town for the dark color of her skin.

Montse, as she is called, acquires a job at a laundry where she works for Senora Gaeta. Although Montse thinks the casa where she works is beautiful, other inhabitants are more skeptical. Senora Lucy, a painter who lives in the second floor, also defends...