Nightcrawling: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club) (Unabridged)
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Beautiful and painfully raw, Leila Mottley’s debut novel is a heart-wrenching story about one Black girl’s journey. Kiara is just 17, but with her parents both gone and her brother, Marcus, wrapped up in dreams of becoming a hip-hop star, the weight of paying the rent for their Oakland apartment falls on her shoulders. This leads her to sex work, and before long, Kiara is caught up in a police scandal. Mottley’s writing is stunningly poetic as she describes everything from pangs of grief to a bowl of huevos rancheros with the same rich, transportive prose. Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt navigates these descriptions skillfully, all while portraying Kiara’s increasing numbness. Mottley was just 17 when she began writing Nightcrawling, which was inspired by a true story. This stunning listen will stir you to your core.
Customer Reviews
Too close to the truth
Gripping first person account of too many of our black & brown sisters.
❤️
Wow