SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2022Chilling and utterly compelling The Fortune Men shines an essential light on a muchneglected period of our national life Sathnam Sanghera author of EmpirelandMahmood Mattan is a fixture in Cardiffs Tiger Bay 1952 which bustles with Somali and West Indian sailors Maltese businessmen and Jewish families. He is a father chancer sometime petty thief. He is many things in fact but he is not a murderer.So when a shopkeeper is brutally killed and all eyes fall on him Mahmood isnt too worried. It is true that he has been getting into trouble more often since his Welsh wife Laura left him. But Mahmood is secure in his innocence in a country where he thinks justice is served.It is only in the runup to the trial as the prospect of freedom dwindles that it will dawn on Mahmood that he is in a terrifying fight for his life against conspiracy prejudice and the inhumanity of the state. And under the shadow of the hangmans noose he begins to realise that the truth may not be enough to save him.A writer of great humanity and intelligence. Nadifa Mohamed deeply understands how lives are shaped both by the grand sweep of history and the intimate encounters of human beings Kamila Shamsie author of Home FireA novel of tremendous power compassion and subtlety it feels unsettlingly timely Pankaj Mishra