Nineveh: Trading in painless pest relocations
It's strange, what disgusts people. Who would scorn the friendship of a gecko, for example: golden-eyed, translucent-skinned, toes splayed on a farmhouse wall? Who could resent a long-legged spider, knitting its silver in the corner of the room? But they do: people will pay to have them killed, poisoned, destroyed.
With the occasional help of her seventeen-year-old nephew, Katya runs Painless Pest Relocations, a small business dedicated to ridding Cape Town's gardens and buildings of "the unloved and the unlovely". She's honed her skills over years of labouring for her father, but whereas he is happy to exterminate the pests, she prides herself on resettlement. But she meets her match when commissioned by Mr Brand, a wealthy property developer, who's been unable to sell the units in his newly-built apartment complex, Nineveh, because of regular infestations of a mysterious beetle. When her father, an alcoholic she hasn't seen for seven years, turns up on the scene it's not clear whether he's another pest for her to get rid of or an ally in the battle between rich and poor.
Despite featuring the second fictional property developer I've encountered in as many months, Nineveh is a refreshingly original story that works on multiple levels. Rife with symbolism on the competition between humans and nature; cracks in the system; the interaction between inner and outer that make up the concept of home; and, of course, this being South Africa, the colonisation and suppression of indigenous peoples. But it works equally well as the portrait of a wounded, fiercely independent and prickly woman and strained family relationships. Katya and her sister have chosen different routes to managing the legacy of their father's violence, while their mother's sudden absence when Katya was three has barely been mentioned.
If that sounds a bit grim, and the wildlife a bit creepy, let me add that the story unfolds through engaging, concise and witty prose, and there's a hope for future redemption in the easy-going and forgiving nature of Katya's nephew. First published in South Africa in 2011, I received my copy courtesy of the UK publisher, Aardvark Bureau.
My review of Nineveh has been lurking on my laptop for a few weeks, awaiting a suitable pairing with either another novel or the right flash fiction prompt. The latter arrived first in the form of a challenge to write a 99-word story on trading. While Katya trades in her expertise in an area others shy away from, my flash is set in the marketplace, but the gap between wealth and subsistence living is relevant to both.
Don't take the price quoted at face value, said the guidebook. Bargaining is taken for granted here. When she kicked off at five hundred, I offered two. She replied with four, I raised it to three; we danced around and shook hands at three-fifty. How could she smile when I'd purchased ten hours of her time for the price of a coffee back home? Maybe I should've stuck at three hundred. Maybe I should've bought a sackful to sell on at a profit. Maybe I should've bought a different guidebook: a guide to building a fairer world.
My short story on a similar theme, "Silver Bangles", was published what feels like yesterday, but turns out to be 2013. There's also a significant marketplace seen in my debut novel, Sugar and Snails, which takes place at the Khan el Khalili in Cairo:
I couldn't take my eyes off the men sitting outside dark cafés playing backgammon and sucking on the water pipes that were so much more tantalising than my dad's standard briar. Men with beards and moustaches dressed in loose long-sleeved shifts like Wee Willie Winkie's nightgown. My dad belonged to a different species …
We wandered along avenues of carpets too precious to tread on; strings of beads dripping like wisteria under canopies of fine cotton and silk. Ranks of brassware glinting up to the ceiling, plates and flasks of silver and gold; pyramids of blue pottery and woven baskets clinging to the walls; mountains of spices like children's powder paint, perfuming the air with ginger and cinnamon and other smells I couldn't name. I could imagine the Three Kings shopping here for their gold, frankincense and myrrh …
We worked it like a single organism, attuned to each other's movements like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. The papyrus for Trevor, a turquoise scarab brooch for my mother and a vase shaped like a long-necked cat for Patricia. Me the excited child, Dad the withholding parent; I'd never seen him so playful. Yet, when I approached a stall selling traditional Arabic man-dresses, a cloud crossed his face.
But it's time to put that aside, as the blog tour for my second novel, Underneath, kicks off tomorrow (which might mean today, yesterday, three weeks or three years ago by the time you read this). Which means I'm about to find out whether second novels really are difficult. In the eleven days up to publication there'll be a mixture of reviews, Q&As and guest posts. I hope you'll find something of interest in the mix.
Hi Anne, I quite like the sound of Katya's pest relocations, and the book sounds interesting too. I'd be happy to relocate geckoes or spiders. Not so sure I'd feel so warmly about cockroaches. We have a lot of exotic geckoes here now. They are cute but they have caused a reduction in our native geckoes, which is rather sad.
You flash is fabulous. It reminds me of shopping in the markets in Beijing. I was uncomfortable bargaining at first, but quickly learned, sometimes a little too well, and ended up feeling like the narrator in your story.
I remember reading "Silver Bangles" and the scene in "Sugar and Snails".
You must be very excited about the imminent publication of "Underneath". I hope you enjoy the blog tour. I will try to get to as many stops as I can. I wish you success with your book!
Could be an alternative career for you, Norah, if you get tired of teaching! We have lizards here but not geckos (as I'm sure you know) – I can't remember where I was but I'll never forget the feeling the first time I saw one scrambling across the wall. But a shame if you're losing your native ones – rather like the case here with squirrels.
Glad the flash reminded you of your own bargaining experiences. I too remember finding it extremely odd and seemingly contrary to my personality, but became quite adept at it (and I remember hanging out in a shop in Luxor feeling quite disdainful of the Europeans who couldn't bargain, partly because they hadn't learnt the numbers – not necessarily something to be proud of).
Yes I remember you commenting on "Silver Bangles". As for the blog tour, I'm sure there'll be some overlap in the posts so you can afford to miss some stops! Thanks, as ever, for your support.
What an original take on presenting familiar human themes in Nineveh. I'm sure it will resonate as a generation clash, too, reminding me of teens who turn from meat and potatoes at dinner for veganism. Your flash reminds me of the artists in Gallup. I've tried to think up many ways to help the artists and have befriended a couple who've explained to me they have no interest in doing it differently. When I mentioned making a fair price for at least their labor and cost of goods, one artist told me all she cares about is having silver to get what she needs at the moment. She says some days no one wants her jewelry, and other days someone will buy it all. I also notice they give different people different starting prices. Earrings I bought for $10 another person bought for $80. They have a good sense of what's in someone's wallet. At least here in Gallup. But I feel as you do, that trade should be more fair. Lovely marketplace scene and now on to Book 2!
You're right, Charli, so original I was waiting in vain for another novel to pair it with, so thanks for your prompt to make that (vague) connection.
Interesting what you say about the generation clash – with the unpleasant politics over here the teens who don't yet have a vote – as well as those too disconnected to use it – seem to have sense on their side, certainly in relation to equality and the environment.
Heartening in a way that some artists are so indifferent to money but I don't like to think of them not getting a fair price. I do like that they propose a different starting price to different people – however I think society is a lot less complicated when goods are priced consistently and incomes levelled out a bit more through the tax system. (How can you tell we've got an election coming up?)
mold remediation in oklahoma link
I want you to thank for your time of this wonderful read!!! I definately enjoy every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff of your blog a must read blog!
Thanks for reading and glad you liked it.