Nadifa Mohamed

A re-imagining of the life of a Somali seaman, Mahmood Mattan, wrongfully convicted of the murder of a Cardiff shopkeeper, Violet Volacki. At first the book swings between telling Mattan's story and that of the victim, and her family. As the story unfold, Mahmood blossoms as a character. He's a chancer, a thief, and adventurer, a lover and a doting father of three little boys. But he's not a murderer. He's the victim of racism, both from different elements of the multi-ethnic community in Cardiff where he then lived, and institutional racism at the hands of the Police, false testimony, and fabricated evidence. The most involving part of the narrative describes Mattan's incarceration, when he evolves and shape-shifts as a character: tough, vulnerable, a risk taker, a believer in British justice.

A moving, nuanced and compassionate re-imagining.… (meer)

Reading this book made me feel so many things that I didn't know I was capable of.

I don't know what it is about epilogues that make us change our views about the stories by a wide margin but this book is an example of one that you'll come to love more after that final chapter of epilogue.

The story of a wrongly accused man who isn't a saint but completely innocent makes us question how quickly someone can judge others just by seeing their appearances.

The story, I won't spoil the most important part for you but you got to read it to feel it. I liked the pace, I liked the angles from which the story was put forward and the ending just took me in.

I could not put my emotions to words for a while. I know I am doing a pretty shitty job at it now as well.

The book speaks volumes on racism, directed violence and prejudice. It speaks volumes on how there were times (and probably still are) when people wouldn't think twice about someone's loses just to make a few bucks.

YOU HAVE TO READ IT TO FEEL IT AND GET ME.… (meer)

Jama and his mother left Somaliland after Jama's father deserted them, and they are now living as dependents with unfriendly relatives in Yemen. To stay out of everyone's hair, including his mercurial mother's, Jama spends his days roaming the markets with other semi-feral children. After his mother's death, Jama decides to search for the father he has never known. At the age of eleven, he travels first to his homeland, then on to Sudan through Italian-held Abyssinia. After a stint as an askaris (local soldier serving in a colonial army), Jama wanders further north searching for a better future in the British merchant marines.

Jama's 1000-mile journey is based on the the life of the author's father. The book opens in 1935 and ends in 1947, covering a very tumultuous period in African history. The Italians and the British are vying for territory and as World War II begins, Jama is caught up in causes he doesn't understand, including, at the end of the novel, the drama of the Jewish refugees on the Exodus. As with all fictional biographies, I wonder where the line is between fact and fiction, but if even the bones of the story are true, it's an incredible one. For a debut novel, it is very well done, and it was long-listed for the Orange Prize.… (meer)