Tall and skinny teenager, mousy brown hair, peaky features. Resident of the Lovelace Estate and neighbour of Cathy and Lyndall Mason. Often spotted helping out at the local market or working at Mr Hashi’s convenience store. Lives with mother, alleged mental instability. Visibly burdened by responsibilities, but appears to be under guardianship of neighbours at the time.
Whitton Wednesday Reading Group:
Yes it can. Each character can give a different view on the same event, particularly in a book like Ten Days, where there is such a diversity of social, ethnic and religious characters, including the author herself.
Bushy Park Readers (Hampton Hill):
Yes. It can enable us to take on the point of view of a person or people with very different circumstances and views from our own. This can inform our judgements about past events and help us to approach new experiences with a more open mind. We experience vicariously through Cathy’s eyes what it is like to live on an estate such as the Lovelace; we can identify with the disaffected community and understand the pressures which led to the riots and the excitement and fear while taking part.
Richmond Reading Group (3rd Wednesday):
Definitely. That is why we read. Insights into people/events we wouldn't otherwise encounter.
Castelnau Reading Group:
'The book certainly helped to see the world through all kinds of nationalities and backgrounds’
‘I felt a great empathy with the protestors and it made me think about the real life rioters in the recent London riots in a much more sympathetic way’
Whitton Reading Group:
Fiction helps the reader see an event/happening from another interesting angle or point of view - perhaps an angle they have never though of previously. This gives an insight/enlightenment which in its turn could cause a change of mind or, of course, maybe reconfirm the original point of view.
Annie's Reading Group (Kew):
Yes, especially if it is about subjects not known to the reader. The reader has to have an open mind and be accepting. Reading different books on different subjects does extend knowledge and give a different perspective.
Fiction can create a contrast between the ideas of author and reader. The bigger the contrast the more likely it is the reader will be challenged into rethinking their perspective.
Hardbackers Reading Group (Redbridge Central Library):
We think that you need to empathise with people to understand their motivations. But it's hard to empathise if you haven't shared the same situation as them, or share similar interests, or had similar experiences. For example noisy neighbours; if you've also had them, you can understand others' motivations or actions - or lack of!
Roxeth Library Monday Reading Group:
We are not sure of the 'young people' - does this include teens and 20+ people?
No, they are not more powerless than their parents' generation. No, we don't empathise with youngsters' frustrations, except in the matter of poor job opportunities nowadays, which were not an issue for earlier generations.
Castelnau Crime Reading Group:
Many of the bookgroup remembered the recent riots in London as well as the Brixton Riots of the 1980s. Many remembered the atmosphere in London at the time and the feeling of unease in the run up to the riots. In the recent riots in London, the atmosphere was felt all over London that something was going to happen and all the shops being boarded up just in case looting and rioting took place in their part of London. There was a collective atmosphere of menace in the air.
Castelnau Crime Reading Group:
He changed his mind. He picked up a stone and then changed his mind. We liked the character very much and it wasn’t a surprize that he acted in the way he did. He was a decent, honest character. No-one in this bookgroup would dream of ever being a looter. Although one of the members felt that they had changed their mind about some of the looters in the recent London Riots. Originally they felt the looters got what they deserved but after reading Gillian’s book, they felt that it was a great shame that for a moment’s weakness someone could get a criminal record and go to prison.
Roxeth Friday Reading Group:
We're not surprised Jayden thought of his mother and wasn't tempted to join the riot. We would have stayed away.
Twickenham Reading Group (3rd Wednesday evening):
The ordinary people in the community - e.g. volunteers. We felt that there is more 'community' on an estate than in the local streets in this area.
Ham Library Reading Group:
There was some discussion about what constituted “youth”; was it teenagers, under 20’s or people in their 20’s? For young people still in full time education time would be limited and they wouldn’t have the maturity to take on responsibility for society but should be taught to act in a responsible way.
Ham Library Reading Group:
Yes, it was fairly reported at the time and we're not sure if anything has changed or if it is any different today.
Whitton Wednesday Reading Group:
It is important. It's a way of bringing to the attention of the powers that be that there is a groundswell of opinion that they need to take note of. However, protests can be hi-jacked by troublemakers, giving the wrong impression, particularly if it's picked up by the media.
Bushy Park Readers (Hampton Hill):
Protest is the only way attention can be drawn forcefully to issues of acute concern to the community; it sends a message about public expectations, frustrations and resentment to those who have been appointed through the ballot box. Public protest is a vital freedom and it is critical that protests are skilfully and respectfully handled by those whose task it is to respond to civil disobedience and disorder. This includes not only the police but also the politicians who are in the positions of ultimate responsibility and the media who have the power to influence public opinion, negatively or positively and to put pressure on the politicians to resolve issues. The book presents the events through the eyes of both the powerful and the powerless, but with very clear sympathy for the latter and cynicism about the former.
Richmond Reading Group (3rd Wednesday):
Yes - it can be a catalyst for community involvement.
Castelnau Reading Group:
The group felt this was very important ; that protest is essential in a modern democracy and everyone has a right to protest. For every action there is always a corresponding reaction and it was important to see how all the characters fell into play in the book.
Whitton Reading Group:
A protest or community action gives strength to each and every participant - united we stand! The voice of many must be louder and thus more powerful than a single voice. The heard voice plays and important part in democratic decision-making.
N.B. In a recent BBC 4 programme (Natalie Haynes stands up for the classics) it was said that a recurrent theme of Metamorphoses was: a loss of voice is a loss of power.
Annie's Reading Group (Kew):
People who strike or go to protest rallies always hope that they will change the situation for the better and they also feel they are acting democratically: for the greater good of the whole. But subversive elements can behave undemocratically or dangerously thus damaging the democratic intention of the majority.
The ability to protest is part of belonging to a democratic society. It is an important freedom, but because it is a freedom it is open to abuse and subversion .
Community actions and protest can be effective and helpful, but not if violence is involved.
There are dangers that protests can be manipulated by others, for example when filming members of the media have been known to orchestrate chanting and passive resistance to make a good news programme.
It’s 4 a.m. and Cathy Mason is watching dawn break over the Lovelace estate. By the end of the day, her community will be a crime scene. By the end of the week, her city will be on fire.
In this gripping thriller by Orange Prize-shortlisted author Gillian Slovo, ten unpredictable days of violence erupt from a stifling heatwave. And, as Westminster careers are being made or ruined, lives are at stake. Ten Days is about what happens when politics, policing and the hard realities of living in London collide.
Listen to extracts from the book by visiting Audible’s dedicated channel on Soundcloud.
About Gillian Slovo
Gillian Slovo is a playwright and the author of thirteen books, including five crime novels, the courtroom drama Red Dust, which was made into a feature film starring Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and the Orange Prize-shortlisted Ice Road. She co-authored the play Guantanamo - Honor Bound to Defend Freedom, which was staged internationally. Her research for her play The Riots inspired Ten Days. Gillian Slovo was President of English PEN from 2010 to 2013 and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was born in South Africa and lives in London.
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