Stable: A Novel

by Sakinah Hofler

After being sex trafficked by the man she loves and picked up by Newark vice cops, nineteen-year-old Keke sets out on a desperate quest for freedom and a stable life for herself and her young daughter.

Keke is a young mother living in the basement of “Daddy’s” house in Newark, New Jersey. For five years, she has been told that she’ll be able to move upstairs once she and the other “girls” hit the magic number. When that happens, she will no longer have to work the motels along the interstate. Her daughter, Angel, will be able to go to school, and Keke will live with Daddy in a real home, like a real family.

But then Keke gets picked up by vice cops and diverted to a women’s shelter, upending the delicate balance of their lives. Hope for a new life starts shining through the cracks—but she doesn’t trust the system to save her. Unwilling to surrender Angel to foster care, Keke needs to figure out how to get both herself and her daughter to freedom.

A taut, incendiary testament to a mother’s love, set in a rarely depicted community of women surviving unforgiving streets, Stable is an uncompromising evocation of how desperation can drive you through to the light.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 23, 2027

Reviews

[Charnell · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Heartbreaking read. I really felt the tight rope of desperation that KeKe walked throughout this book. The psychological warfare that her and the other girls live under the control of that man. The realities that the author display in the book was done with care. I felt for the characters. We also get to see the cycles of abuse and trafficking with how the people around the abusers enable them. Great read.

[valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, this was an incredible read. The writing made you feel her desperation and sent you into the constant survival mode she was in. After the first couple of chapters, I truly couldn’t put it down. The main thing that I didn’t like was the switching between first and second person. I completely understand the goal and why it was important, but personally, it took me out of the story every time it happened. During the ending, I was so invested that I felt like I was there with them. In my life, I’ve felt that fear, fight, panic, and hope during times when you need to escape, as your only chance of survival, where if it goes wrong, you’re dead. I think the author did a fantastic job of capturing that and making the reader experience it even if they haven’t. I look forward to reading more from Hofler.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Anna Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s sometimes hard for me to rate a book when the topics are so heavy but I appreciate a book that opens doors to stories like this that make you see beyond your own little bubble. Stories like this are important because there’s truth in here.

In Stable, you meet Keke, a sex worker working for a man everyone calls, “Daddy”. Keke is a mother to a little girl named Angel and it’s clear very early on that her daughter is her top priority, and her second priority is keeping the peace for “Daddy” - surviving and obeying.

This book gets frustrating at times, you just want to shake Keke to run and get out of “Daddy’s” control but its not that easy for an uneducated woman with no money, a child, and a pimp who has manipulated her beyond words, to just leave.

The style of writing is short and quick sentences, which transport you to Keke’s mind- at times, I genuinely felt like I was in the brain of a woman in survival/panic mode which was quite different than what I normally read but transportive, nonetheless.

I enjoyed this book and it was beautifully written through Keke’s eyes and highlighted what actually goes through a woman’s head in an abusive situation.

[Corinne’s Chapter Chatter · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Wow!! This was such a great read!! This is going to be one that I think gets super hyped once it comes out because of the emotional journey it takes you on. I’m so grateful to have received a secure widget from Henry Holt, as I probably wouldn’t have noticed this one otherwise. I tend to read a limited number of books that make me feel like an adult, after all. 😂

I’m being a bit cheeky, but seriously, I tend to gravitate toward more escapism-based reads, and this one definitely is NOT that. The comparison to the uptick in sex trafficking in the US and around the world is frightening. This author takes the reader on a ride that blurs the line between fiction and reality, and I ate up every word.

You’ll definitely want to check the trigger warnings before going in, but if you’re prepared for the subject matter, this is a fast read at only 256 pages of brilliance. Did I mention this is also Hofler’s debut?! I’m already looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next because she’s set the bar HIGH with this one!

[Kayla Kopke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, wow, wow. This book offers a realistic and heartbreaking look into the lives of lost and orphaned young girls trapped in the sex-work circuit. I couldn’t put it down.

Sakinah Hofler delivers a breathtaking debut that completely captivated me. I was fully gripped from the very first page to the last, and I know I will never forget this story. This is the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading it.

Five stars, plus more if I could give them! This book deserves all the praise and is sure to be a literary hit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Keyana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for an arc read of this amazing book!
Very well written and heart wrenching story! It was the first book I read on this topic and seeing the mental anguish and games these men play with these women was eye opening. I wanted the main character to win so bad and I could understand her fears and hesitancy on making decisions quickly. I also loved how the author let the story grow and revealed small details as the story went on and didn't give them to you all at once. This was my first book by this author and won't be my last !

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was unforgettable. Keke is a well developed and complex main character and I was rooting for her the whole time. I felt stressed and agonized at times at what she had to go through. There are so many heavy and relatable themes in this book and honestly it gives a voice to what goes on with trafficking and the type of lifestyle Keke has. This book is a Must Read! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Quia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a heavy read--almost brutal in certain scenes. For me the pacing felt like the blur on a train and matched the constant survival mode that Keke was fighting. I appreciated how the writing reflected the complicated nature of surviving and escaping abuse. I was rooting for Keke the entire time.

[Ronnica Fatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most beautifully devastating book I’ve read this year. Keke fell through the cracks of foster care into human trafficking, and there’s no support to get out

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deft handling of complex issues woth well-written prose. The novel has a problem with pacing, it is far too slow. Otherwise, it is a good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[DREA 87 · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO BE A YOUNG BLACK GIRL TRAFFICKED... THE AUTHOR REALLY MADE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE THE MAIN CHARACTER. LOOKING FORWARD TO READING MORE FROM SAKINAH IN THE FUTURE.

[Emily Pukuma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fourteen-year-old Keke went by another name when she found herself penniless at a train station, nearly robbed of all her worldly possessions by a grifter. After years of foster home hopping, she was on her way to Hail Mary turn up at her only living relative’s home when she was saved by a man she’d come to call Daddy.
For five years, Daddy promises her a real life upstairs, just as soon as she and the “girls” make the magic quota to get his Grandma the care she needs. Until then, they live in the basement under his watchful eye—Keke and her daughter Angel, and the other girls—working the motels along the interstate. Then one day, Keke is picked up by the police and taken to a women’s shelter, and it starts a chain of events that opens her eyes to other possibilities for her life.
Stable is a testament to a mother’s love and protection, even in the grimmest of circumstances. And the strength it takes to leave certain unsafety for uncertain freedom.

Told from Keke’s perspective, Stable is a wild, at times horrific, completely enthralling story. From the opening pages, I couldn’t put it down. It will have you cheering for this lost girl and her daughter, heartbroken by their circumstances, and railing against the structural forces that put them there in the first place.

Thank you, #NetGalley, for the ARC. This was my favorite novel so far this year.