Ten Days

Acknowledgements

The idea for Ten Days grew out of my verbatim play that, commissioned by London’s Tricycle Theatre, was put on in October 2011, not long after the conclusion of the 2011 riots. A special thanks to Nicolas Kent for gifting me this project and for making it happen on stage.

I have used the deep background and some of the details that I had gathered for the play in the novel, but Ten Days remains a work of fiction whose plot and characters have sprung entirely from my imagination. Even so, I would like to thank Martin Sylvester Brown, Sergeant Paul Evans, Mohamed Hammoudan, Sadie King, Leroy Logan MBE, Pastor Nims Obunge, Stafford Scott, Chief Inspector Graham Dean and Sir Hugh Orde for generously sharing their experiences and so helping me understand how a riot can happen. Thanks also to Clifford Stott and Martin Scothern for taking the time to talk to me about the police force, to Helena Kennedy QC for putting me right on the structure of the Ministry of Justice, to David Winnick for guiding me round the House of Commons, to Ed Miliband and his office for further inducting me into the workings of Parliament, to Giles Fraser and John Turner for showing me round their stomping grounds, and to Kamila Shamsie for reading and commenting on the manuscript just when I needed her to.

My agent, Clare Alexander, not only helped me find the idea for Ten Days but also gave me the courage to write it: her thoughts, and her readings, were invaluable throughout. This novel also brought me the pleasure of working with a new editor, Louisa Joyner, whose thought processes are lightning fast and just as deadly effective. I thank them both, as well as the whole of the Canongate team: it has been a pleasure.

Thanks to Cassie Metcalf-Slovo, who helped me especially in the initial stages of the book. And finally, thanks to Duncan James, who read as I wrote and whose generous feedback and love sustained me during the writing of this book.