Nightcrawling

NIGHTCRAWLING

by Leila Mottley

 

Nominations: Booker Longlist 2022, BookTube Longlist 2023, Center For Fiction Longlist 2022, Oprah Book Club 2022, PEN/Hemingway Longlist 2023

 

Date Read: August 1, 2022

 

It’s been a VERY long time since I’ve given a book five stars but this one absolutely deserves it. Mottley’s prose is absolutely superb and I never wanted her writing to end. The story, however, you want to end – hopefully in some beautiful ending that gives Kiara some reprieve from the reality she faces far too young.

 

Kiara and her brother, Marcus, have been left on their own in an Oakland apartment complex, both parents dissolved by death and prison. Kiara is laser-focused on making the rent and keeping her family together, even if her only remaining family is Marcus. Marcus, however, has other priorities, trying to make it big as a rap artist.

 

The two good things in Kiara’s life are Trevor, the next-door crackhead neighbor’s son, and Ale, Kiara’s sometime, mostly girlfriend. If Kiara is ever desperate for a meal, Ale is there to feed her heart and soul. 

 

In order to survive, Kiara reluctantly turns to the streets, turning tricks to stay alive. She unwillingly becomes a pawn in the Oakland PD’s exploitation of sex-workers and is passed among officers like a used piece of gum. No one sees her potential. No one sees her worth. She doesn’t want to be involved but she has no choice unless she wants to go to jail for solicitation. 

 

As with all secrets, the truth comes to light but there is no justice for Kiara, who was passed among badges at the tender age of 17. She is so very young to be facing such a harsh reality, a reality that the privileged, such as myself, never have to face. She has to make decisions well-past her pay-grade and your heart can’t help but hurt for her.

 

After an internal investigation and her testimony, no indictment is filed for the officers involved in her trafficking. No surprise there. But having light shed on their activities hopefully means officers will stop or they will take this as a license to continue. Most likely the latter.

 

Through it all, Kiara’s heart remains intact. She holds on to hope and love in the midst of such darkness. I am overwhelmed by Mottley’s prose, her youth and her talent. I am equal parts jealous and gobsmacked.

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