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The Fortune Men

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I think this story would have been better told as a non-fiction book, giving an account of what really happened in Mattan’s case. While many are familiar with the case, as a U.S. resident, I was not. For me, The Fortune Men didn’t contain enough characterization to make it a compelling historical fiction story, nor was there enough meat to provide a non-fiction account of true events. A missed opportunity all around. Thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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Nadifa Mohamed has created a strong work of literary fiction, definitely deserving of the many awards lists this book appeared on. The lead character, Mahmood Mattan, is based on a real man who was falsely accused of murder and executed in 1950's UK. The author has fleshed out the little that was known about Mahmood into a well realized and vivid protagonist. The writing is a tad uneven in parts, but overall is lyrical, spare, and arresting. This book has a brutal beauty to it, and will definitely haunt the reader long after the last page.

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The book is a study of human nature when racism takes the forefront of justice. The people would rather quickly judge an outsider with dark skin as a scapegoated monster than capture the actual villain. Ruined lives become an afterthought as people return to business as usual without justice being served. The killer remains free to prey on his next victim as the innocent becomes a victim of lies and has his family destroyed as well.

The story is long, particularly with the monologues of the accused trying to make sense of the madness that has befallen him. This was an intentional act to provide readers with many opportunities to consider our own prejudices and judgements within the lines of prose. Personally, it made me uncomfortable. That is something to be commended in a rare piece of literary fiction. Well done.

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I'm not sure why I had a hard time finishing this book. I SO wanted to read and appreciate what is has accomplished in bringing to light an event from history that needs to be known. I did finish it on audio and really enjoyed the narrator's authentic pronunciation and diction. It helped bring the story to life for me personally and even as I hated learning of this history I am glad to have done so. Kudos to the author and thanks to Net Galley for the preview copy.

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Such a heartbreaking story of wrongful imprisonment. Well written with emotional execution done well.

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Enjoyable consideration of time and place. Did a nice job of humanizing characters. Writing was a bit dry, journalistic for my taste, but would recommend for fans of historical fiction.

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From British Somaliland to death row in Wales by way of British jurisprudence, THE FORTUNE MEN explores the workings of the human heart in extremis, of innocence condemned. A compelling reading experience that lingers in the mind.

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Beautiful yet horrifying book based on a true story. What writing though! Just beautiful. Will be looking forward to more.

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‘Defend me for what? You can’t get me to worrying,’ says Mahmood Mattan, when offered legal representation after his arrest in Tiger’s Bay, Cardiff, home to the young Somali, his estranged Welsh wife, and their three boys. A muscled sailor from Hargeisa, Mahmood has a prodigious memory, excels at games of skill, knows five languages, and is unemployed by dint of ‘Blackness’. A stoker by trade, he soon learns the heat from the fiery engines is nothing compared to people’s burning hatred. His reluctance to return to sea and miss his boys’ growing up morphs into tragic irony.

The Fortune Men is based on the murder of a Jewish shop owner on the night of March 6th, 1952 in the melting pot of Tiger’s Bay, an area decimated by the war, and resettled by Somali, West African, Caribbean, Indian, Arab and Maltese sailors. We see life through Mahmood’s eyes―his worldly travels, his gambling, petty theft, propensity for lying, his cockiness, the prejudice faced in marrying a Welsh girl, his deep love for his wife and boys. When arrested, he naively believes he will be released immediately, and forgoes counsel. As the days slip into weeks, he rereads the Qu’ran, still confident his innocence will free him. The trial is a travesty, but how does one fight a xenophobic system where evidence is manipulated, police pressure people to rethink their recall of what they saw (or didn’t), lying witnesses are applauded, and a large reward is on offer in a poverty-stricken city? Slowly coming to terms with a universal disinterest in the truth, Mahmood’s gradual transformation―cynicism to realisation and acceptance of death―is heart-breaking.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this remarkable literary work puts the era unflinchingly on show in intricate detail, and the author’s ability to place the reader right there, privy to this shameful miscarriage of justice, is chilling. A remarkable achievement not to be missed.

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A powerful, descriptively rich tale of race and cultural division, located in a nostalgic 1950s setting. The lost milieu of merchant navy work and mixed race co-existence is strikingly captured in this fact- based story of injustice and intolerance. Characters too are nicely pitched, complex and nuanced. While the ultimate message may be delivered a little too starkly, the evocation of place, people and time is notable. An author to watch.

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Amazing story and incredibly well written! I was blown away by this story about a real-life Somali immigrant, Mahmood Mattan, in Britain condemned to death by a racist justice system for a crime he did not commit. The characters and setting come alive in a way that highlights the structural barriers that were insurmountable as he waited in vain for the truth to emerge. Parallels of course with the current day treatment of migrants in Britain and elsewhere, the more things change, the more they remain the same in this beautifully written tragic tale!

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The Fortune Men is a novel based a real murder that occurred in Cardiff in the 1950’s. A woman is murdered and the police are concerned not with investigating the crime but finding someone they feel fits the bill for the crime. Despite testimony that contradicts the police story, Mahmood ( the main character and one of the victims) is convicted and sentenced to be executed.
A sad, frustrating story, The Fortune Men brings to light one of many people who have been wrongly convicted for a crime they did not commit.

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I’m not sure where I got the idea this book took place in Somalia rather than Wales, so it took me a little time to get my bearings in the book. I also found the writing to be difficult to follow. Its not exactly disjointed but it took me a while to work out the relationship between the characters. Once I found my bearings in the book, the story of a murder he did not commit. Based on the true story, readers are allowed into the mind of an immigrant as he awaits trial in a dreary cell. There are no other suspects for the murder of a shopkeeper and so the police are desperate to pin it in Mahmood. This is definitely a book for the times, when so many people are focused on injustice.

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This story is heartbreaking but predictable. Mahmood Mattan, a Muslim accused of murdering a Jewish shopkeeper, becomes immersed in a river running one direction which he doesn't not have the strength or the good fortune to escape from. His fate is sealed partly thanks to his pride, his misplaced faith in higher powers and, overwhelmingly, because he is a victim of a poisonous racism in Britain in the 1950s. It is a tragedy told in a roundabout fashion, with each character given space and detail to grow into a real person.

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I began The Fortune Men expecting it to take place in Somalia, so it took me a little while to get my bearings in Wales. There is also something about the writing that made it difficult to follow at first without significant concentration. I haven’t figured it out exactly unless it is just the many unfamiliar references. Fortunately (no pun intended), it worked itself out.

As the story progresses, the tension rises. We get to know the main character and his wife in some detail, and our sympathy for them grows exponentially. Indeed, they will be haunting me for some time. Multicultural, suspenseful, and well-written, The Fortune Men is absolutely worth a read.

Thank you to Nadifa Mohamed, Viking Press, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I keep trying to wrap my head around this story—that it was based on real life circumstances, and it breaks my heart every time I think about it.

Nadifa Mohamed has crafted a chilling reimagining about the life of a man wrongly accused of murder, and the turmoil he is faced about his innocence, the justice system, and how others perceive him. It’s heartbreaking to witness Mahmood’s unwavering belief in himself as he navigate his life amidst these accusations. (And don’t even get me started about the chapter chronicling the trial. I just about threw my kindle across the room from being so angry. I hate injustice and I hate it even more when there’s no logic behind it!)

However, I advise you take this review with a grain of salt as I don’t normally have experience reading historical fiction. But if this sounds even remotely intriguing to you, I’d say it’s worth a read.

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DNF @20%

This was just not for me - I wasn't engaged with the story, there was so much jumping around that I was never fully sure where we were in the story [I tried read reading this and then listening to the audiobook and it was just as confusing both ways] and I just couldn't connect with anyone. Learning this was a retelling of a true story just made me want a biography of that story rather than just another retelling. This was a book I was really looking forward to and it fell so flat for me that I am extremely disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nadifa Mohamed and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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“I can see how men go mad. You open a door in your mind and just step through. Easy.”

Author Nadifa Mohamed explores the topic of wrongful incarceration and a corrupt justice system in her new release, The Fortune Men (Knopf). The immersive detail and timeliness of this narrative are among the reasons that the book was selected as a finalist for this year’s prestigious Booker Prize. The Fortune Men is based on the true account of a Somali immigrant struggling to maintain sanity while awaiting his trial for murder in Cardiff, Wales, during the early 1950s. For a black man facing a biased justice system, will innocence be enough to save his life?

One thing is made clear from the beginning of the book: Mahmood Mattan did not commit the brutal crime for which he is accused. Mahmood is many things — an ex-sailor, estranged husband, father of three, gambler, petty criminal — but he is no murderer. When a local shopkeeper is found dead in her own store, however, police scour the area for “a black Somali man” seen just before the crime and begin to question everyone with dark skin and a mysterious past.

When the victim’s family offers a handsome reward for information in the case, accusations start to fly. Mahmood finds himself under the scrutiny of police, taken in for questioning and subsequently arrested. As circumstantial evidence is gathered and additional witnesses are coerced into providing testimony against him, Mahmood fears that the promises of freedom and justice that drew him to Great Britain may not hold true for those of his position and skin color.

MOHAMED’S STRIKING IMAGERY OF HOPE AMID GREAT STRIFE

In the tradition of Capote’s In Cold Blood, author Mohamed incorporates profuse descriptions of both character and setting in this, her third book. We learn the story of Mahmood’s mysterious past in Somaliland, as a sailor traveling the world and how he came to settle in Cardiff. His courtship and marriage to Laure, his Welsh wife, are recounted in a few striking scenes and are among the more uplifting points of the book. The resilient life of the shopkeeper Victoria Volacki provides additional perspective and detail that add to the setting and create a connection with the victim.

Upon his arrest, the main character is confined to an inhospitable cell in the local prison, which is rendered with poignant and claustrophobic detail:

“The prison cells are so cramped that with outstretched arms you can touch both walls at the same time. After he’s already walked two paces into the cell, Mahmood jumps back on seeing another man already there: a black man lounging in the bottom bunk, his big feet hanging over the edge of the narrow cot.”

In a certain part of that stark prison, Mahmood is able to look through a window to see the house where his estranged wife and three young children live. They stand in the yard once a week at a given time to wave and see their father as he awaits trial. This hopeful imagery is a glimpse of light in an otherwise dreary, gray place. Although Mahmood is initially certain of his release and cooperates with the authorities, he soon loses confidence that his innocence will be enough to set him free.

GROSS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE CASTS LIGHT ON THE PRESENT

With a lack of any other suspects, authorities become determined to prove Mahmood’s guilt by fabricating a case against the innocent man. They compile circumstantial evidence, false statements from people who despise him, and a few reprehensible individuals simply looking to claim a portion of the reward money. These shortcomings of the justice system, combined with pervasive and deep-rooted racism, may prove to be enough to condemn a black man to death for a crime he did not commit.

The Fortune Men, while focused primarily on the murder of a shopkeeper, the investigation of the crime and trial of an innocent black man, is so much larger in scope than the average crime novel. Based on historical events, and with a richly imagined backstory, this book speaks to deeper themes of racial prejudice, injustice and police corruption. It will appeal to those who are cognizant of similar miscarriages in our current criminal justice and social systems, as well as to anyone who has trusted an established institution but later discovered that it was not what they imagined it to be.

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4 stars Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group for a chance to read and review this book. Published Dec 14, 2021. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2021.

This was a book that I needed to spend a little time thinking about after having read it. At first finishing it I was not sure that I even liked it. At the very start of the book it was very difficult to get into the rhyme of the writing. I felt it was really fragmented and was making no sense. To make matters worse there seemed to be a lot of foreign words - without further explanation - solidly spread throughout the pages.

However, having thought about it for a few days I more fully appreciated the story.

The meat of the story is about a Somali man who is accused of murdering a Jewish woman shop owner. He is a petty criminal, but not a murderer. It is 1952 in Cardiff Wales. He puts his faith in the system, knowing he is innocent, but 'conspiracy, prejudice and cruelty' run high against him. Is the truth enough to save him from the gallows?

This was a first read for me by Mohamed. Once I got on to her style of writing I became more comfortable with the story. I did feel that there was way too much foreign language in the book - words that did not have any translation - which for me is very distracting. A few foreign words followed by their explanation is fine, but this book took quite a liberty in that area for being a book targeting an English speaking populace. I find it hard to believe that being Somalian the author would write a book in her native language with as many untranslated English words in it as she put untranslated Somalian/Hindu words in this English novel.

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This book ended up being one of my 2021 favorites for its ability to make a compelling fiction out of real-life events in Wales in 1952. Its main character is unforgettable.

My review of the book appeared 12/19/21 in the Star Tribune:
strib.mn/3yDfmR2

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