The Perfect Love Story?

This collection consists of the ten winning stories chosen from the 1,000 entries to The Guardian/Piccadilly writing competition for teenagers. Love is presented in stories that employ different moods and modes; pathos and humour, mystery and realism. It is perhaps unsurprising that in a collection produced by teenagers, romantic love is most prevalent with an interest in relationships that transcend boundaries such as age, social acceptability, or death. The young writers use the short story form to good effect, many of them providing a twist or 'sting in the tale'. In his brief foreword Andrew Motion comments on the particular difficulties of writing a love story for the self conscious teenager. The perspectives in these stories are characteristically adolescent and in this sense the fiction has a specific appeal for its intended audience. However, I particularly enjoyed Emma Bevin's 'Chamber Street' for its skilful handling of the ordinary and insight into the grey areas of failed relationships. She avoids over controlling the reader, leaving narrative gaps to draw them into the untold story.