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Viking has scooped a “deeply resonant and heartbreaking” new novel from Nadifa Mohamed based on the true story of a Somali man who is wrongly accused of a murder in Wales.
Publisher Mary Mount acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein on behalf of Nicole Aragi at Aragi Inc. The Fortune Men will be published spring or summer 2021.
Its synopsis explains: “The novel, set in 1950s Cardiff and based on a true event, tells the story of a young Somali man accused of a crime he did not commit—the murder of a shopkeeper in the cosmopolitan neighbourhood of Tiger Bay.”
Mohamed is the author of two previous novels and was selected for Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 2013.
Mount said: “Nadifa's novel is not only a beautiful and brilliantly told work of fiction, it also offers a profound and unsettling portrait of our society. It is a portrait that, sadly, is as resonant for our times as it was for the period in which the novel takes place. All of us at Viking are thrilled that this wonderful novelist will be joining the list.”
Mohamed added: “I am delighted that The Fortune Men, which I have worked on for 15 years, will be published by Viking. The story of Mahmood Mattan got under my skin and demanded to be told, I can't wait to share it with a wider audience.”