The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohammed
I picked up The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohammed at our village bus stop library. Other books I’ve picked up there include You Are Here and This Must Be the Place. Published in 2021, The Fortune Men was longlisted for The Booker Prize that year, which isn’t at all surprising.
Cardiff’s Tiger Bay in the 1950s is a melting pot of races, religions and cultures. Among them is Somali former seaman, Mahmood Mattan. Mahmood is a liar, a chancer, a gambler and a petty thief. But he is definitely not a murderer. Estranged from his Welsh wife, Laura, he is the father of three little boys, who he adores. All he wants from life is to be back at home living with his family.
But then a Jewish shopkeeper is murdered in Tiger Bay. She has her throat slit in the shop, while her family eat dinner. It’s not long until Mahmood is a suspect.
Mahmood knows he isn’t guilty. He believes in British justice. He is sure he can’t be found guilty when he definitely didn’t do it.
But Tiger Bay is full of racists and people motivated by the substantial reward put forward by the victim’s family. The only evidence against Mahmood is lies told by people who don’t like him.
As his case comes to court, then his execution date creeps closer, Mahmood finally realises that actually being not guilty isn’t enough. And that British justice isn’t always justice.
This is a shocking and moving story which, I only realised after I’d finished reading, is actually based very closely on a real life case.
If you can handle a book on racism and a miscarriage of justice, I would definitely recommend The Fortune Men. It is an eye-opening read.
Wow, I think that would be really disturbing to read a novel like this and then realize it was based on a real life case. Looks like an interesting story though. Visiting from Bookworms Monthly today.
It was a shock to discover it was based on a real case. I just thought it was a disturbing story. It is definitely worth a read though for anyone who can handle that sort of thing.
I think it sounds disturbing but an intriguing read, I will look out for it.
It’s definitely worth a read, but shocking how little proper investigation went into a murder case at that time.