In this month’s issue of Numéro Cinq, I talk about Ingrid Winterbach’s excellent The Elusive Moth. Though recently released by Open Letter, the novel was originally published in the 1990s and focuses on a woman living in a small South African town. The timeliness of Winterbach’s overarching themes—gender disparity; corrupt, powerful police—is quite chilling, and there are moments throughout reminiscent of recent events here in the US. One can’t help but feel the echo of Ferguson, MO when reading scenes of police lieutenants attacking innocent people, or when hell breaks loose the moment the marginalized attempt to take a peaceful stand. Amazing, brilliant, heartbreaking stuff.
Benjamin Woodard 