'No one has measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.'

Zelda Fitzgerald

Love is not a singular concept.

In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from Philautia, self-love, to Agape, love for humanity; and from Storge, a natural affection for family, to Mania, a frenzied, obsessive love:

La Douleur Exquise (the pain of unrequited love)

Before It Disappears by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan (c) 2016

Pragma (enduring love)

One More Thing Coming Undone by D.W. Wilson (c) 2016

Philautia (love for oneself)

White Wine by Nikesh Shukla (c) 2016

Mania (obsessive love)

Magdala, Who Slips Sometimes by Donal Ryan (c) 2016

Storge (familial love)

Codas by Carys Bray (c) 2016

Eros (erotic love)

The Love Story by Grace McCleen (c) 2016

Agape (love for humanity)

The Human World by Bernardine Evaristo (c) 2016

Seven authors; seven short stories; seven flashes of love.

The publication of How Much the Heart Can Hold is heralded by a Sceptre short story competition. The winning story, based on a concept of love, will be published in the paperback edition.

(P) 2016 Hodder & Stoughton