{"id":4151,"date":"2014-08-11T10:00:55","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T10:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4151"},"modified":"2016-01-23T16:33:47","modified_gmt":"2016-01-23T15:33:47","slug":"the-best-british-short-stories-2014-ed-nicholas-royle-reviewed-by-sarah-clare-conlon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4151","title":{"rendered":"The Best British Short Stories 2014<\/em>, ed. by Nicholas Royle (Salt Publishing) \u00a39.99, reviewed by Sarah-Clare Conlon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fourth in this now popular annual anthology series, just out from 15-year-old independent publishing house Salt, rounds up 20 stories by different authors, offering an insight into how varied the short fiction landscape in Britain is right now.<\/p>\n

The task of editor Nicholas Royle (author of the critically acclaimed First Novel<\/i>, about a lecturer of creative writing who we meet midway through the curious destruction of an e-reader) cannot be undervalued: to make his selection, he trawls umpteen literary magazines, online fiction outlets, author collections and prize shortlists. And his choices consistently deliver in terms of quality, even if sometimes the reader can find themselves left loomed over by an enormous question mark or discombobulated enough to need to open the fridge for solace (85% dark chocolate or 12% white wine; whatever your particular weakness).<\/p>\n

Another creative writing lecturer (at UEA) is Philip Langeskov, also in The Best British Short Stories 2011<\/i>. Second time round, he impresses with the effective double-helixed \u2018Barcelona\u2019, which intertwines different stories and links together two couples at significant milestones in their lives (a 10-year wedding anniversary and the birth of a first baby). Also putting in another appearance is Claire Dean with \u2018Glass, Bricks, Dust\u2019, a beautifully written fairy tale with an uncanny leaning (something to which Royle is a self-confessed addict). She manages to paint a picture so vivid, you almost feel part of the composition. My favourite.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed Elizabeth Baines\u2019s self-conscious storytelling in \u2018Tides\u2019 \u2013 \u201ca Gothic drama [\u2026] a jovial realist tale or a misery memoir, depending on my mood [\u2026] a narrative arc with a happy ending\u201d. In \u2018Hope Fades For The Hostages\u2019, Ailsa Cox, meanwhile, offers up a Jarmuschesque interweaving of three separate vignettes all happening at three in the morning, but developing in four instalments. David Grubb\u2019s model railway-themed \u2018Roof Space\u2019 feels as immersive as Dean\u2019s doll\u2019s house castles, and has a fast-paced forward motion, reminiscent of trains, but the ending is disturbing, especially following straight after Si\u00e2n Melangell Dafydd\u2019s upsetting bonsai tree metaphor in \u2018Hospital Field\u2019.<\/p>\n

There are ghosts, there are murders, there is blackmail, there is stalking. There is a lot of weird stuff in these twenty tales. But there is also humour, warmth, hope, compassion. The longest story in the collection, \u2018Ashton and Elaine\u2019 by David Constantine (author of the award-winning novel Tea at The Midland<\/i>) is very moving; one of the shortest, Jay Griffiths\u2019 \u2018The Spiral Stairwell\u2019 is touching, although maybe erring a little too much towards the sentimental for my tastes, but nonetheless \u2013 about an ambulance driver bolstering himself against bad news in the Blitz \u2013 it does illustrate the breadth of styles and themes on offer. Once again, The Best British Short Stories <\/i>series delivers a package worth opening \u2013 it holds quite a few treats.
\n 
\nSarah-Clare Conlon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fourth in this now popular annual anthology series, just out from 15-year-old independent publishing house Salt, rounds up 20 stories by different authors, offering an insight into how varied the short fiction landscape in Britain is right now. The task of editor Nicholas Royle (author of the critically acclaimed First Novel, about a lecturer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[13,283],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Best British Short Stories 2014, ed. by Nicholas Royle (Salt Publishing) \u00a39.99, reviewed by Sarah-Clare Conlon - The Manchester Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=4151\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best British Short Stories 2014, ed. by Nicholas Royle (Salt Publishing) \u00a39.99, reviewed by Sarah-Clare Conlon - The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The fourth in this now popular annual anthology series, just out from 15-year-old independent publishing house Salt, rounds up 20 stories by different authors, offering an insight into how varied the short fiction landscape in Britain is right now. 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