Mixed Feelings

The only weakness in this collection of stories by ten celebrated women authors is the lack of any real flaws in the mother and daughter relationships they describe. Jamila Gavin's 'Forbidden Clothes' contains the most moving and credible portrait of dissent as 16-year-old Nasreen abandons her western ways to conform to the stifling prospect of an arranged marriage. The remainder of the stories focus on the mutual love and support between mothers and daughters but with no real attempt to probe deeper into this often most troubled and complex of relationships. However, the stories are varied and convincing: Annie Dalton's often humorous account of a single mother and her daughter and Jacqueline Wilson's exploration of the tensions of a teenage pregnancy are especially affecting. The biographical information at the back of the book needs some updating, as the original was published in 1992 but it does provide useful information for those wishing to read more by one of the authors appearing in this anthology.