Booker Shortlist 2021: The Fortune Men
Will this be the fortunate one?
BookWorm:
Why it Could Win:. It is an important story about the British justice system and the way it has let citizens down. A timely reminder that we can all do better.
Why it Might Not Win: Based on a true story and Booker is a prize for fiction.
Tracy:
Why it Could Win: It’s a timely, based on a true story, book about miscarried justice. And it’s really well done.
Why it Might Not Win: Miscarried justice and race are topics that judges may feel to be overdone.
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Book Worm
jenp27
Nicole Del Sesto
The Reader's Room 
This is the only one of the shortlisted books I’ve read but I thought it was terrific. I take the point that it’s based on a true story but I think the author did an excellent job of putting us inside the head of the main character and imagining his thoughts and feelings. You could argue that Hamnet and The Mirror & the Light also took fact and fictionalised it. Of course that adds to the argument for recognising a different type of literary approach with this year’s prize. Obviously this shouldn’t be the criterion for deciding the winner, but as Nadifa Mohamed is the only British author on the list as a fellow Brit I will be rooting for her.
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