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Kaliane Bradley’s protagonist is given some unexpected news in The Ministry of Timeandrey_l/Shutterstock The interviewer said my name, which made my thoughts clip. I don’t say my name, not even in my head. She’d said it correctly, which people generally don’t. “I’m Adela,” she said. She had an eye-patch and blonde hair the same colour and texture as hay. “I’m the Vice-Secretary.” “Of . . . ?” “Have a seat.” This was my sixth round of interviews. The job I was inter­viewing for was an internal posting. It had been marked “Security Clearance Required” because it was gauche to use the Top Secret stamps on paperwork with salary bands. I’d never been cleared to this security level, hence why no one would tell me what the job was. As it paid almost triple my current salary, ...