Nightcrawling: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
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.
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.
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Community Reviews
Nightcrawling has Beautiful writing with such fantastic imagery! A hard topic but so real. I see why Oprah picked it. I'll be looking for her next book.
Nightcrawling is a powerful, story that definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat as you root for the protagonist to survive all of her trials and tribulations. However, Mottley's background as a poet clearly influences her novel-writing as well, and as I am not the biggest poetry fan I would have preferred more straight-forward language, though poetry-lovers would likely enjoy it more.
My goodness, this author is so talented. I know this fictional story is based on a true event but the way the author unfolds the struggles of this young 17 year old black teenager to hold family and survive, blew me away. The author's writing to a life lead into prostitution and the abuse the main character faced trying to raise money for shelter for her and her siblings, was very raw and real to those in impoverished situations in the world. The author was well worded in the voice of the main character to draw your sympathy and her strength of her life unprotected from the reality of the world and the limited choices she feels she is given.
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.
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