'What can a novel say about something as boundless as a nation? It might appear to be beyond the scope of what a work of fiction might achieve from some angles, given the infinite points a writer might begin or end a story about nationhood.' (Introduction)
'Some people are so capable that it makes the rest of us feel incompetent. Matilde is this kind of capable. She has so much under control that there’s nothing left for others to do.' (Introduction)
'We inhabit a moment where reality seems increasingly malleable, a construct that serves the interests of the powerful by eliding and obscuring the truth. From police demanding journalists submit to fingerprinting to the rejection of science by lobby groups and politicians, the control and manipulation of information has become so normalised that most of the time we no longer even notice it.'(Introduction)
