This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman
We do not own the criminal. It’s sad that he came to us from a place where he shouldn’t be.
October 1955 in Auckland. Young Paddy Black can nearly picture himself back in Belfast if he sings to himself. Yet here he is in a prison cell awaiting a murder trial, less than two years after travelling across the world in quest of a better life. That night, he pulled a knife on the jukebox, but should this have resulted in his execution? As a wave of moral panic sweeps the island nation, Paddy must stand trial while his anxious mother waits. The judge and jury are unlikely to favour an outsider. The compelling book by Fiona Kidman examines the contentious subject of the death penalty with her trademark empathy and a keen eye for injustice.
This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman
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She is a remarkable woman, Fiona Kidman. This Mortal Boy is based on the true events of Albert Black, an unremarkable young man who immigrated to New Zealand from Ireland in the 1950s and was found guilty at the age of 20 of killing another young man during a brawl at a milk bar in Auckland. It is a book on how New Zealand dealt with foreigners. But it’s a book that presents that tale in incredibly relatable ways.
A man named Albert (Paddy) Black was born in Belfast, but because of the city’s divisions, he didn’t see much of a future there and instead set his sights on New Zealand. Many people in the UK viewed New Zealand as the wild, untamed west. Although he enjoyed himself and had the prospect of a reliable career and income, Albert must have questioned what he had struck when he first arrived. He never quite felt at home. An American “Rock’n’roll”-influenced conservative administration was seeking to control wayward young when Albert landed in New Zealand, which was amidst a social revolution. Paddy didn’t seem lonely; by all accounts, he had no trouble making new friends and acquaintances, including attractive women. A look into conservative New Zealand during a time of societal unrest.
The events leading up to the hanging of the second-to-last person to be hanged in New Zealand are fictionalized in this sombre and sensitive book.
From Northern Island, Albert Black, often known as “Paddy” Black, immigrated to New Zealand in the 1950s as one of the “ten-pound poms.” Having been convicted guilty of murder, he passed away in 1955 at the age of just 20.
Albert Black was encouraged to immigrate to New Zealand by his parents, concerned about the rising sectarian strife in Northern Ireland. Albert Black was ready and willing to work hard and embrace the challenges faced by immigrating to a new nation. However, after learning that English and Irish people were looked down upon, Albert becomes lonely and unsatisfied and decides to relocate to Auckland to work and save money for his return to N Ireland. While his landlady was away taking care of a sick friend, Albert was given temporary custody of a boarding house. Albert was fascinated by the jukebox-filled cafe culture that was popular at the time, where young people would congregate.
Johnny McBride, a problematic young man who was one of his contacts, tried to start a fight with Albert over a female they were both interested in. Albert ended up stabbing Johnny in the neck, killing him, and Johnny was later tried for murder and found guilty. McBride had kicked him in the testicles the night before and had vowed to finish the job the next evening. In order to defend himself from an impending attack, Albert had prepared a knife…
