Nightcrawling

A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)

By: Leila Mottley

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

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.

Exquisitely evocative

Not the puerile first novel described by some other reviewers, but a masterpiece. A story for our times that should be read by all.

excellent

Vivid, rich, sad,. all things
growing up in Oakland, her story and landmarks are so accurate. when the story broke in Oakland it was hard and sad.

This book is for all the brown girls who live in her.

I think every brown girl/woman can identify with Kiara, if only a fraction of all that makes her her. I think that a portion of all of our stories was told here, however minuscule, and for that I thank you!

Excellent Read/Listen. You will feel like an invisible character in the book walking along side of Kiara.

very well put together

I absolutely loved this book. I didn't want to stop listening. Phenomenal, real and sad.

Such an emotional ride

This book was so well written, and touches on sensitive topics. It’s definitely worth listening to. Hands down one of my favorite performances. The reader made it so great to listen too.