She wished me to know that a major transit was due to occur shortly in my sky.
-- The Narrator (chapter 1 paragraph 1)

Importance: Faye tells readers about this email at the beginning of the narrative as it sets the stage of the novel as implied in the title.

Only when their will has been exhausted do the majority of people recognise the decree of fate.
-- Narrator in the Voice of the Real Estate Agent (chapter 1 paragraph 6)

Importance: The narrator tells readers that her real estate says this to her when he describes how people behave when they are trying to buy a house. It is one instance in which the motif of freedom and fate appears and supports the view that people believe that they have the freedom to choose and direct events, but ultimately they do not and people are only ready to admit this when they try force things to happen and that thing does not happen.

It was the astrologer's remarks about cruelty that had...
-- The Narrator (chapter 1 paragraph 9)