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A review by serendipitysbooks
The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
My reading experience with this one was influenced by the fact that I knew what it was about and how it ended before I started reading. Yet, despite being an adult and knowing how both books and the real world work, as I read I found myself hoping something would happen to change the trajectory of this story. Of course it didn’t.
The emotions this book elicited - especially the sadness, anger and disbelief- were expected. What I wasn’t necessarily expecting was to find such a rich character study of a colourful if flawed man. The setting - both time and place was also richly drawn and I was surprised by just how multicultural, yet non-integrated the area was in the early 1950s. Learning about Mahmood Mattan’s upbringing and travels, seeing the way he interacted with his wife, children and the wider community, as well as they way they interacted with him, ensured that I saw him as more than a victim of gross injustice. Paradoxically it also heightened my sense of that injustice because I could see him as a unique individual rather than a generic stereotype. He was not a blameless man and his faults arguably contributed to his conviction. But should justice only be available to those with a spotless character?
Final verdict - A heavy hitting character study highlighting a historical true case of institutional racism with the justice system. One that is sadly still all-too-relevant today.
The emotions this book elicited - especially the sadness, anger and disbelief- were expected. What I wasn’t necessarily expecting was to find such a rich character study of a colourful if flawed man. The setting - both time and place was also richly drawn and I was surprised by just how multicultural, yet non-integrated the area was in the early 1950s. Learning about Mahmood Mattan’s upbringing and travels, seeing the way he interacted with his wife, children and the wider community, as well as they way they interacted with him, ensured that I saw him as more than a victim of gross injustice. Paradoxically it also heightened my sense of that injustice because I could see him as a unique individual rather than a generic stereotype. He was not a blameless man and his faults arguably contributed to his conviction. But should justice only be available to those with a spotless character?
Final verdict - A heavy hitting character study highlighting a historical true case of institutional racism with the justice system. One that is sadly still all-too-relevant today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Religious bigotry