Nineveh

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Henrietta Rose-Innes. Nineveh

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PRAISE FOR NINEVEH

“Nineveh is an astonishing modern fable about memory, belonging, and the mysterious forces of nature.”

.....

He looks at her, nods and tucks her card into his top pocket. Crisp in the heat: fine cotton, no doubt. The man is sweating booze, but his clothes are holding up. And now here is the bluebell hostess at the corner of the house, gesticulating with her glass. Irritation registers in a momentary immobility of the man’s face but he gets to his feet, still smiling pleasantly. His movements are sharper and more energetic than a drunk man’s have any right to be. “Well, we’ll give you a try, I suppose. I might have some more work coming up.” Then he leans forward and slips his own card – appearing magically in his palm, a trick – into her pocket. Katya feels it through the material, sliding in. “I do think I prefer my caterpillar wranglers, ah ...” – and he looks her up and down, the ghost of a wink – “painless.”

As the PPR van labors up the steep driveway, Toby is uncharacteristically still. A capture box is on his lap, his long fingers resting lightly on its lid, and every now and then he drums on the wood with his index and middle fingers: a private, soothing rhythm. Poor little creatures, torn away: their pilgrimage denied.

.....