The Best British Short Stories 2013

The Best British Short Stories #3

by Nicholas Royle, Rob Shearman (Contributor), Ellis Sharp (Contributor)

The third in a series of annual anthologies, The Best British Short Stories 2013 reprints the cream of short fiction, by British writers, first published in 2012. These stories appeared in magazines from the Edinburgh Review to Granta, in anthologies from various publishers, and in authors' own short story collections. They appeared online at 3:AM Magazine, Fleeting and elsewhere.

This new anthology includes stories Charles Boyle, Regi Claire, Laura Del-Rivo, Lesley Glaister, MJ Hyland, Jackie Kay, Nina Killham, Charles Lambert, Adam Lively, Anneliese Mackintosh, Adam Marek, Alison Moore, Alex Preston, Ross Raisin, David Rose, Ellis Sharp, Robert Shearman, Nikesh Shukla, James Wall and Guy Ware.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, British Literature

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 5, 2012

About the author

Nicholas Royle is an English writer. He is the author of seven novels, two novellas and a short story collection. He has edited sixteen anthologies of short stories. A senior lecturer in creative writing at the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University, he also runs Nightjar Press, publishing original short stories as signed, limited-edition chapbooks. He works as a fiction reviewer for The Independent and the Warwick Review and as an editor for Salt Publishing.

Reviews

[JimZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 3 stars. I was quite satisfied after having read the 20 stories…8 out of 20 stories that were 4 stars or higher???? Not too shabby in my opinion! 😊

So I’ve read 2011 (3 stars), 2013 (3 stars), 2018 (4 stars) and 2020 (4 stars). This is a pleasant experience… I have six more to go…and then I can look forward to the 2021 volume 😊

1. The Smell of the Slaughterhouse – Alison Moore [2.5 stars]…originally published in The New Writer 111
2. The Writer – Eliot Sharp [2.5 stars]…originally published in Labyrinths 43
3. The Stormchasers – Adam Marek [3.5 stars]…originally published in The Stone Thrower
4. Mrs. Vadnie Marlene Selvon – Jackie Kay [4.5 stars]…originally published in her short story collection ‘Reality, Reality’
5. When You Grow Into Yourself – Ross Raisin [3 stars]…originally published in Granta (online)
6. J. Krissman in the Park – Laura Del-Rivo [2 stars]…originally published in 3:AM Magazine
7. The Swimmer in the Desert – Alex Preston [2.5 stars]…originally published in Fleeting (online)
8. Voyage – Adam Lively [1 star]…originally published in Stand 197
9. Curtains – Charles Lambert [4 stars]…originally published in Willesden Herald New Short Stories 6
10. Doctors – Anneliese MacKintosh [4.5 stars]…originally published in Edinburgh Review 134
11. Bedtime Stories for Yazmin – Robert Shearman [4 stars]…originally published in Shadows & Tall Trees 4
12. Canute – Nikesh Shukla [3.5 stars]…originally published in First City, October 2012
13. Dancing to Nat King Cole – James Wall [4.5 stars]…originally published in The View From Here (online)
14. My Wife the Hyena – Nina Killham [2.5 stars]…originally published in Still, ed Roelof Bakker (Negative Press London)
15. Budapest – Charles Boyer [1 star]…originally published in Warwick Review
16. Just Watch Me – Lesley Glaister [5 stars]…originally published in Edinburg Review 135
17. Hostage – Guy Ware [4.5 stars]…originally published in You Have 24 Hours to Love Us
18. Even Pretty Eyes Commit Crimes – M.J. Hyland [5 stars]…originally published in Granta (online)
19. The Tasting – Regi Claire [2 stars]…originally published in Ambit 210
20. Eleanor – The End Notes – David Rose [2.5 stars]…originally published in Unthology 3

[Elizabeth Finnegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some well written stories in this anthology, but I was disappointed that the selection did not reflect the depth and variation of British culture. Instead this anthology reflects the taste of the editor Nicholas Royle, who clearly likes stories written in the present tense, which need to be carefully read in order to detect the tensions lying underneath. It was a relief to read "The Tasting" by Regi Claire, one of the few stories written in the more palatable past tense. Many of the protagonists face a personal challenge whether domestic violence, a senile spouse, an estranged wife or latent homosexuality. these stories could easily be set in Australia or the United States. Apart from the odd speling, there is nothing uniquely British about them.

A couple of the stories, such as "The Swimmer in the Desert" and "The Voyage" allow the reader to take a journey into the surreal. They are successful in that they provide the reader an experience that could nt be achieved in any other medium.

At times, I felt I was reading stories written for a creative writing class. Stories that dwelt on the writer's experience e.g. "The Writer" and "Eleanor - The End Notes" are examples of this. Satisfying perhaps to the intellect, but less satisfying emotionally.

If you like "smart" writing this book may be for you but if you are hoping for British eccentricities and affections, look elsewhere.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly good. Review coming..
here's some short notes on some of my favourite pieces in this collection:
Alison Moore – effective, sharp evocation of a ‘battered’ wife returning to the parental home
Ellis Sharp – ebullient drugged (diazepam) walk across Hampstead heath where the ground yield[s] to his weight with a low squelch of pleasure, and into a gallery (the library was sickly with gilt), and you’re thinking hey up, bit over the top, when he comes clean: Trees have no emotion and do not crowd together for company.. The anthropomorphic tendencies in this story are deplorable. A lot of fun.
Adam Marek – a father chases a storm in a car with his tornado loving son, leaving his wife nursing a toothache. But there’s more to it than that; despite the obviousness of the metaphor a subtle portrait of a marriage.
Jackie Kay – where she makes up an electrician husband (combining features of an electrician with those of a man she met once sat next to on a bus to the Lake District) – 5 long paragraphs (one 4 ½ pages) of terrific writing, exposing both the vulnerability and resourcefulness of Mrs Vadnie Marlene Sevlon, the main character.
Ross Raisin’s ’When you Grow Into Yourself’ is a fine piece about a footballer not coming to terms with his gayness.
David Rose’s 'Eleanor – The End Notes' I’d read before in Unthology 3. A truly beautiful piece, about a music producer's infatuation with a delicate musician which leads to their marriage. It was great to read it again.
Regi Claire terrified me in ‘The Tasting'.
Lesley Glaister’s wife acts unusually when she discovers her husband’s infidelity: she nursed the affair as if it was her child
Charles Lambert’s is another marriage going wrong, where a dog becomes the focus of frustration – the husband insisting it needs a thrashing, and the wife realising I could do anything to you..picking him up, holding him out as far as she can reach, watching him wriggle in her hands in his attempt to lick them.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 - somewhere between "it was ok" and "liked it".

A mixed bag. Some lovely, some utterly bland. I'm left feeling underwhelmed after finishing this collection. Many of the short stories in the book seemed to be salvaged scraps of failed novels.

It starts off fairly strong and drops off towards the end.

Adam Marek's "The Stormchasers" was probably my favourite, or perhaps "Mrs Vadnie Marlene Sevlon" by Jackie Kay. Ross Raisin's "When You Grow into Yourself" deserves a mention too. And "The Swimmer in the Desert" by Alex Preston. So it seems I did enjoy a fair few. I'm glad it's over though, all were quite melancholy in that dreary British sort of way.

[Marc Nash · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good I'm afraid. Just 2 stories were worthwhile, those by Lesley Glaister and Nikesh Shukla which both honoured the short story form with strong central themes and images, while the rest mainly disappeared on wisps of air so flimsy were they.

[Susmita Bhattacharya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

[Bernadette Jansen op de Haar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great way to find out more about contemporary short story writers.

[Des Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poignant perfection in itself. Privileged to have read it. A work whose lark ascended.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.

[Marion Granigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

And another whole new world of authors opens up to me! What a treat this was.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the stories are dull and forgettable with a couple of stinkers thrown in for good measure. A good read for insomniacs.

[Jagoda · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Afternoon tea”

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the short stories I read were good, but some were just not for me.