Nineveh

South African writer Rose-Innes creates a thoughtful, textured narrative focused on how people interact with their neighbors, the natural world, and the critters that encroach on us all. Katya Grubbs deals in painless pest relocations: no matter the pest, she promises to get rid of it. Instead of exterminating the creatures, she takes them into the wilderness and releases them. It isn't glamorous or high-paying work, but she knows what she's doing and it's a family business. Given the chance at her biggest task yet%E2%80%94clearing out troublesome beetles from Nineveh, a new luxury housing complex on the South African coast%E2%80%94Katya's attempts don't quite go according to plan. The growing cracks in the walls of her house and the demolition of a tiny park where she used to release insects represent the state of her life. Focused closely on Katya, the narrative is a fragile ecosystem of its own, condensed into her increasingly claustrophobic mind and echoing the environs around her. Katya must find a way to exist with her past and the mixed memories of her father, whose footsteps she followed in despite their estranged relationship. Surreal in style and atmosphere, yet grounded in the reality of place and the ever-present threat of insects, this is a quiet but deep look at the ecosystems we create for ourselves as well as those we can't escape. (Nov.)