Opening a short story anthology, there is often something to delight, something to surprise. There is also often something clever, self-indulgent, that speaks of a writer's skill but limited experience of life. Jacob Ross's careful selection of stories from black British writers restores a sense of connection with the detail of human fragility in our fragmented contemporary culture; with narrative, with the spirit. With the subtle, sometimes unconscious, responses of these writers to what Britishness means. This book is both an important contribution to the future development of the form and a celebration of some of our finest writing. Surprising, delightful and full of life.
Cathy Galvin is the Director www.thewordfactory.tv, the associate editor at Newsweek, a former journalist and editor at The Sunday Times, with work published in The Financial Times, the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and The Irish Examiner.
