Nightcrawling

By Leila Mottley

Nightcrawling - Leila Mottley
  • Release Date: 2022-06-07
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4
4
From 265 Ratings

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK • A dazzling novel about a young Black woman who walks the streets of Oakland and stumbles headlong into the failure of its justice system. This debut of a blazingly original voice “bursts at the seams of every page and swallows you whole” (Tommy Orange, author of There There).

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, TIME, GOODREADS

Kiara and her brother, Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison

But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent—which has more than doubled—and to keep the nine-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed. One night, what begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger turns into the job Kiara never imagined wanting but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. Her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland Police Department.

Rich with raw beauty, electrifying intensity, and piercing vulnerability, Nightcrawling marks the stunning arrival of a voice unlike any we have heard before.

Reviews

  • Heavy Work

    3
    By Richard Bakare
    Leila Motley’s debut novel is as raw and unnerving as they come. It reminded me of the movie “Requiem for a Dream.” It serves as an accurate and gritty representation of what life is like in the shadows and between the cracks. While also being a stern warning of how badly life can spiral in a few decisions. Overlaying all of this is an exploration sisterhood among women and what defines kinship. Especially when faced with the choice of swallowing one’s pride or being consumed by it. As Motley portrays them, these lives are so broken they serve as an indictment against a country that would let youthfulness be destroyed because of greed and racism. So the choice is not really a decision between options but desperately grasping for some of what’s left while surviving the trauma of a patriarchal world. Pulling no punches, Motley makes us accept the bitter truth of the outcomes of various plot threads. The perpetrators operate with impunity. Behind badges and guns that give them power over the voiceless. The marginalized move between gaps in the broader society hoping against hope for something to change. Speaking the truth, even if it amounts to little is the only power the disadvantaged have.
  • Amazing

    5
    By April_T_N1
    This book says so much of how young black girls and women are treated in society. Kiara, is expected to make adult decisions and pay adult consequences, even though she is just a child. Even as a sex worker she was still used by Johns, police force and made to feel she was to blame. This is any black girl USA. There are some inconvenient truths and symbolism throughout the novel that are so powerful I could feel it. A must read.
  • Heart wrenching and graphic…But

    4
    By wynbee
    Heart wrenching and graphic story of the plight of trafficked young women with little hope. Huge kudos to such a young writer for shining a light on this. Still, I felt that there was something off in the writing, which switches between street talk and perfect grammar, making it less than authentic.