In the introduction, Gaarder claims that he found the old
manuscript at a
bookshop in
Buenos Aires and translated it. According to his plotline, it was written by Floria Aemilia, Augustine's
concubine, who after being abandoned by him, got a thorough Classical education, read his
Confessions (where she is mentioned but not named, unlike their son, Adeodatus) and felt compelled to write this text as an answer. ==Editions==