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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Fortune Men” by Nadifa Mohammed<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The Fortune Men portrays life in the racial, cultural hub of Cardiff\u2019s Tiger Bay in the early fifties. It centres on the plight of a Somali man, Mahmood Mattan, who finds himself on trial for the murder of a local shopkeeper.<\/p>\n Mahmood is a chancer, a father and a petty criminal who is innocent of the crime, but as the local paper of the day described, \u201cAlmost within a stone\u2019s throw in which he lived in Cardiff, Mahmood Mattan was executed…\u201d He was the last man to be hung in Cardiff prison. Many years later, the conviction and execution of Mahmood became the first miscarriage of justice case ever investigated by the Criminal Cases Review Commission and in 1998 Mahmood was exonerated by the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n Nadifa Mohammed, whose father knew Mahmood, is herself a British Somali and seems well placed to write Mahmood\u2019s story. Nadifa manages to paint a credible picture of life and the events in the 50\u2019s that led to the wrongful conviction of Mahmood for the murder of a white woman just because of the colour of his skin. It is a story of racism, discrimination, police corruption, conspiracy and cruelty.<\/p>\n The Page Turners thought it was an important story that needed telling, as racism remains an issue today, and on a regular basis there seem to be reports of miscarriages of justice when wrongly convicted people are freed.<\/p>\n Many book club members thought the writing style and language used was difficult, especially when there were many words in foreign languages that were not translated. Some felt that sentences and<\/p>\n descriptions were overly long and descriptive passages tedious to read. Some readers did not like the fictionalised account of this historical event and would have preferred to read a biography of Mahmood.<\/p>\n Everyone agreed it was an important event that needed to be told; the discussion was mainly around the telling. Have a read and judge for yourself! The Page Turners average score was 6.5!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, red roses for love.. But for Victoria Jones it\u2019s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After her childhood spent in the foster care system she finds she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. The story follows Victoria\u2019s blossoming into adult life as she haphazardly learns to trust and be trusted, to love and be loved.<\/p>\n This book was well received by the majority of us. It was agreed that the effects of the care system upon young people was very well understood (the author had herself been a foster parent). Victoria\u2019s difficulty emerging into independent life was palpable; we wanted her to succeed in life.<\/p>\n The history of flowers and their changing language was beautifully versed. The inclusion in the book of a dictionary of flowers and their language made for fascinating study, although there was disappointment when favourite flowers of our own turned out to have negative attributes (eg sunflower: false riches, yellow rose: infidelity) There was relief by most that the book ended on an optimistic yet realistic note. This enjoyable book scored an average of 7\/10.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Fortune Men” by Nadifa Mohammed The Fortune Men portrays life in the racial, cultural hub of Cardiff\u2019s Tiger Bay in the early fifties. It centres on the plight of a Somali man, Mahmood Mattan, who finds himself on trial for the murder of a local shopkeeper. Mahmood is a chancer, a father and a petty criminal who is innocent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3f3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11613,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11613","url_meta":{"origin":12465,"position":0},"title":"Dogs Trail Cardiff With Snoopy","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th May 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"DOGS TRAIL CARDIFF WITH SNOOPY To celebrate Dog\u2019s Trust\u2019s new rehoming centre coming to Cardiff. A Dog\u2019s Trail is a spectacular, free public art trail that runs from 8th April \u2013 5th June. For 8 weeks the streets of Cardiff, Cardiff Bay, Caerphilly and Porthcawl are home to a series\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Event Notices"","block_context":{"text":"Event Notices","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=237"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Picture10-210x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4364,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4364","url_meta":{"origin":12465,"position":1},"title":"Gertrude Jenner – Suffragist","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th March 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"REDRESSING THE BALANCE \u00a0 On occasion of her death in April 1894 at the age of 69, the popular Evening News, while recognising her great charitable work, described Wenvoe\u2019s Gertrude Jenner as a picturesque, eccentric and pathetic character. She was in fact a fearsome crusader for women\u2019s issues and good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17006,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=17006","url_meta":{"origin":12465,"position":2},"title":"Ol’ Man River","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th May 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST OL' MAN RIVER This story is set in 1938, just before the onset of war with Germany. Paul Robeson, a famous black singer and actor from America, visited Mountain Ash in the valleys and sang for the people who died in the Spanish Civil War. Rick\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/robeson.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10270,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10270","url_meta":{"origin":12465,"position":3},"title":"Training For Settling In Canada","author":"Alan Williams","date":"18th September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 TRAINING FOR SETTLING IN CANADA Ex-service men\u2019s centre near Cardiff For the second year in succession a number of ex-service men and their families are undergoing training at the British Legion Emigration Training Centre at Wenvoe Grange, near Cardiff. On completion of the course, which will last several weeks,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Picture10-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4576,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4576","url_meta":{"origin":12465,"position":4},"title":"SS WENVOE \u2013 A STORY OF BRAVERY AND TRAGEDY","author":"Alan Williams","date":"26th May 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"SS WENVOE \u2013 A STORY OF BRAVERY AND TRAGEDY \u00a0 The 2,979 tonnes merchant steamer the SS Wenvoe was built in 1894 by the Gray Company of Hartlepool and owned by a prominent Cardiff shipping family, the Morels. Ships like the SS Wenvoe, which were used to transport a variety\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11871,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11871","url_meta":{"origin":12465,"position":5},"title":"Seventy Years Of Wenvoe In Transit","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"FORWARD OR BACK?: SEVENTY YEARS OF WENVOE IN TRANSIT Recent weeks have seen the celebration of the Queen\u2019s platinum jubilee, including a great display of local memorabilia organised by Mike and Glenys Tucker, which together with the Barry Festival of Transport gave me food for thought on the changes in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Picture8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Picture8.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Picture8.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12465"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12465"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12467,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12465\/revisions\/12467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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