But Mohamed isn’t afraid to show Mahmood as a flawed person either. He was a father, son, brother, friend, and innocent. Mahmood was not just the last man to be executed in Wales. The reader steps into the mind of Mahmood and rarely leaves for the length of the novel, having the chance to empathise with Mahmood’s fears, desires, anger, and happiness. Instead, there’s an appreciation of the depth and warmth Mohamed brings to this grim case. Knowing how Mahmood’s story ends does not hinder the enjoyment of the novel. “Nadifa Mohamed manages to masterfully bind together fact and fiction without erasing the chilling reality of Mahmood Mattan’s state execution.” The criminal case was undoubtedly marred with racism and malpractice, with even Mahmood’s defence lawyer calling him a “half-child of nature, a semi-civilised savage.” Tragically, he was found guilty and hanged in Cardiff Prison on 3 September 1952. Set in 1952 Cardiff, The Fortune Men centres on Mahmood, a Somali seaman wrongly accused of murdering Violet Volack, a shopkeeper and moneylender. Instead, she writes humanity and dignity into a story that has been largely forgotten in the wider British consciousness. At the heart of The Fortune Men is a true and horrific story of racial discrimination in 1950s Britain. Nadifa Mohamed manages to masterfully bind together fact and fiction without erasing the chilling reality of Mahmood Mattan’s state execution.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |