Nightcrawling

A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)

By: Leila Mottley

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

2022 Booker Prize, Long-listed
2023 California Book Award, Winner
2022 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Long-listed
2023 Lambda Literary Award, Short-listed
2023 PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Novel, Long-listed

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.

©2022 Leila Mottley (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • A New York Times Writer to Watch • THE CENTER FOR FICTION'S FIRST NOVEL PRIZE NOMINEE • Lambda Literary Award Finalist

“Astonishing . . . Nightcrawling heralds a bold new voice in fiction.”—Associated Press

“Mottley writes with a lyrical abandon.”—New York Times Book Review

“Nightcrawling really is a powerful, poignant story worth your attention . . . Revelatory . . . My god—that voice. It’s sometimes too painful to keep reading, but always too urgent to stop.”—Ron Charles, Washington Post

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.

Excellent listen!

It is one of the best books I have ever listened to! highly recommend it!

griping nuanced story

this was a well-written gripping story. The narrator didn't awesome job and body. the voices of the different characters. author did a great job delving into the life of so many people and our country who cities our purposely neglected and the paths that they take as what they see of their only option. thank you to the author for reminding us that all those story is fiction. it is based on events that actually do happen to people time and time again, especially with encounters with police. it's a story that must be told

Tragic Story

I was hoping to find out what happened with Marcus. The author is brilliant with vivid imagery throughout her writing. I wasn’t looking for this type of tragedy in a novel with barely any glimpse of hope. Very dark.

Gut wrenching and Brilliant

This book will have you sucked in to the complexities of poverty and the depravity of those who prey on the poor.

Amazing story

I was taken into the world of this young girl, into a world of which I knew nothing. The characters are so real and the dialogue is piercing with this heartfelt performance… I won’t forget this one!