The Ilkley author penning gripping thrillers for teens

Rebellion, taking risks and living life as if it were a big adventure are attractive propositions in theory, but in reality how many people have the courage to take a leap into the unknown?

That is one of the many thought-provoking themes that run through Ilkley-based author Martyn Bedford’s latest novel for young adults Twenty Questions for Gloria, a gripping psychological thriller published in February. Set in West Yorkshire in the fictional small town of ‘Litchbury’ – which bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain spa town with a famous moor – the narrative focuses on 15-year-old Gloria who, tired of her ordinary, predictable life, disappears with charismatic new boy Uman, a rule-breaker with a mysterious and troubled past which is gradually revealed as the story unfolds.

“There was a case in the papers a few years ago about a schoolgirl who went on the run with her teacher to France and they were missing for a few days,” says Bedford. “I wasn’t particularly interested in the idea of a teenager running off with a teacher, but I was intrigued by the notion of two people going on the run together. I also wanted to explore the way that people can be influenced by others, particularly young women. Gloria seems to have found someone different who can change things in her life. I wanted to subvert that fairly conventional set up with Gloria moving towards realising that the only person who can change her life is herself.”

The pair’s odyssey is told through Gloria’s first-person narrative as she is questioned by police after returning home safe to her anxious parents – with Uman’s whereabouts still unknown. It is a structure that works extremely well, creating a sense of immediacy – some passages of dialogue in the police interview room are in script form – while pulling the reader in, teasing out the detail of exactly what happened during the period that Gloria was missing. Bedford perfectly captures the language, playfulness, sensibilities, and fluctuating moods of teenagers – without ever being patronising – as well as their complex contradictory nature, all conveyed with a lightness of touch, plenty of humour and a strand of tender, tentative romance. This is Bedford’s third Young Adult novel – following the acclaimed Flip in 2011 and 2014’s equally successful Never Ending– and he is working on a fourth. A former journalist, Bedford had written five novels for adults before making the move into young adult fiction.

“There is an assumption that teenagers don’t read books any more,” says Bedford. “But my experience with secondary school students is that they are keen readers.” Young Adult fiction seems to be growing in stature and, deservedly, moving into the mainstream – in January Frances Hardinge’s The Lie Tree, a novel for teenagers, was named Costa Book of the Year 2015, one of the UK’s most prestigious literary prizes. “After crime fiction it is the most successful area of publishing over the last 25 years,” says Bedford. “It’s a very exciting genre to be involved in at a time like this.”

Twenty Questions for Gloria by Martyn Bedford, published by Walker Books, £7.99.