Author NotesI made certain choices in portraying an Aboriginal woman of the time, consulting with Dr Anita Heiss and others in order to try to make ethical writing choices. Some of the terms used for Aboriginals in the book are offensive (‘native’, ‘Aborigine’, and ‘tribe’, for example), as I compromised between a tragic history and a light-hearted story. The most glaring fiction is the pattern of scars on Matilda’s body. Because many Aboriginal religious rituals are kept deliberately secret, I chose to fictionalise her past rather than inadvertently reveal something sacred (or pretend her childhood contained nothing of note). I also used British names in order to avoid using the Aboriginal names of the dead. Matilda and William would have had other names as well, but they have not been sp
