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balladofreadingqueer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It explores his nomadic, seafaring life, tumultuous relationship with his white Welsh wife and her family and his friendships and rivals with other Somali immigrants and African immigrants in England/ Wales. It clearly highlights the flaws in the Welsh justice system as he is convicted for a crime he clearly did not commit. The author clearly demonstrates how racism and xenophobia from judges, lawyers and the jury led to his wrongful conviction despite no evidence.
The trial and Mamood’s time in prison are the centre of this book. As he explores his inner life and memories and prepares for execution. His life before arrest is peppered throughout his memories and what happens his family after his wrongful murder by the state are only briefly addressed <\>
Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Murder
bethvance's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, and Murder
Minor: Colonisation
joann_l's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
The novel revolves around a young Somali man who has found his way to Britain and built a life for himself there, complete with a wife and children. He is an ordinary man, a flawed man, but not a bad man; his morals are imperfect but not malicious. In his Welsh town, there is a sundry shop, owned and run by a Jewish woman. She is murdered. He is arrested. The novel spins from that point around his trial and his incarceration.
The details of the crime and his arrest are revealed, it becomes clear that things are not so black and white, literally and figuratively, according to the shade of his skin. In this Welsh neighborhood, there has been the recent in flux of many immigrants: those from the Caribbean — coming off the HMS Windrush — as well others like him, from Somalia, parts of West Africa, Nigeria, South Asians from India, Pakistan. There are Jews, Muslims, Christians. And then there are the White Welsh and English. The only thing they seem to have in common is their denizenship in a working class milieu: they are each trying to survive in their own ways, struggling with the constraints put upon them by their race, the color of their skin, their gender.
Mohamed’s prose weaves together the multiple layers of this crime, both the murder and the crime of injustice via complex characters who each come to this place armed with their own ambitions and hampered by their past experiences; they are as flawed as the main protagonist — and like him, we can see that they are not truly “bad” people, but merely making decisions based on the ethnic, racial, and class based expectations put on them. Reader, you will weep for all the characters in The Fortune Men, for they are as trapped as the prisoner in his cell.
It is hard to write a review of this book without giving away its ending, because its ending is really the beginning of the question that led to its creation. It is based on a true story, which is what makes this even more tragic and heart-rending.
All I can say is: You must read this. You must weep for the man, the woman, his wife, his children, the families torn apart by the events that took place in 1952-1953 in this small Welsh town. And you must be angry.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Antisemitism, Alcohol, and Colonisation
ladymirtazapine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Transphobia and Colonisation