Reviews

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

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daja57's review against another edition

5.0

In 1952, Tiger Bay in Swansea is a melting pot of different nationalities; there are tensions between the indigenous white community and those they describe as 'black'. Somali Mahmood Mattan has married a white woman and fathered three sons but now, unemployed and a gambler with a criminal record for petty theft, he is separated. So, when local shopkeeper and money-lender Violet is found murdered, the police arrest Mahmood. This novel, based on a real case, and told in the present tense, mostly from the third-person perspective of Mahmood, chronicles what happens next.

It is beautifully written and explores Mahmood's life growing up in what was the British Somaliland and later became a merchant seaman, working in the engine room and travelling all over the world, before settling in Tiger Bay. The descriptions of the multi-cultural communities in Tiger Bay is also fascinating.

I found it a little slow at the beginning but towards the end I was page-turningly desperate to find out what happened.

My only criticism is, as regular readers of my blog will guess, the use of foreign words. Use them, please, to give colour and authenticity. But offer translations as footnotes or a glossary.

cpoole91's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

yoloxokotl_xolos's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Fortune Me is an interesting historical fiction with a time period and perspective combination that isn't very common. I really enjoy when I get to experience a new aspect of a historical period of time. When I picked it up I didn't realize it was based on a true story and that always adds an extra layer of interest. The pacing was a little chopping and the writing was a bit dry at time but overall a solid read. I appreciated the amount of research and detail contained in the novel, I also found a lot of parallels with current day situations that made this story even more alive.

katymaryreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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? Yes

4.5

lizzielala's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

alisonhori's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a hard one to rate for me. The writing was often dull for me and the lags and human disconnects were frustrating. I was ready to quit this book part way through but went and read the blurb on the book and knowing that it was based on a true story made it much more interesting somehow. The ways in which racism and culture and colonialism and economics play in this story was interesting. The historical story makes this book worth well worth reading though for me, it was not a fantasticly engaging read and was sometimes a bit of a slog.