How grief and anger fuelled my inner city novel

In 2017, I left the North London school where I had taught for 15 years. Following an interview at a leafy comprehensive in Sussex, I sat in my car, telephoned my wife and cried so much she thought I'd failed the interview. But I had been crying for a very different reason.

"It's another world!' I explained. ‘Only 5% are on Free School Meals! 5%!"

For context, 70% of my London students qualified for Free School Meals, meaning many families rely on foodbanks and live in temporary or crowded accommodation. Knife crime is a fact of life. Older students (and Black male teachers) expect to be stopped by police on the way to school. Boys are acutely aware of the precise moment they cease to be seen as a sweet child and become viewed as a threat. They work hard, nurture ambitious dreams, but poverty exerts a downward force, forcing some talented students to drop out of A-Levels.