Best British Short Stories 2016

The Best British Short Stories #6

by Claire-Louise Bennett (Contributor), David Gaffney (Contributor), Janice Galloway (Contributor)

The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its sixth year.

Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the best of the bunch to reprint all in one volume.

This new anthology includes stories Claire-Louise Bennett, Neil Campbell, Crista Ermiya, Stuart Evers, Trevor Fevin, David Gaffney, Janice Galloway, Jessie Greengrass, Kate Hendry, Thomas McMullan, Graham Mort, Ian Parkinson, Tony Peake, Alex Preston, Leone Ross, John Saul, Colette Sensier, Robert Sheppard, DJ Taylor, Greg Thorpe and Mark Valentine.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2016

About the author

Claire-Louise Bennett grew up in Wiltshire and studied literature and drama at the University of Roehampton, before moving to Ireland where she worked in and studied theatre for several years. In 2013 she was awarded the inaugural White Review Short Story Prize and went on to complete her debut book, Pond, which was published by The Stinging Fly (Ireland) and Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) in 2015, and by Riverhead (US) in 2016. Pond was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2016.

Her second novel, Checkout 19, was published in 2021 and was selected as one of the ten best books of 2022 by the New York Times.

Reviews

[JimZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before reading this, I had read 8 of the 11 collections available published from 2011 to 2021, and ratings were mostly 3 (5 of them) with three collections getting 4 stars (2018, 2020 and 2021). I was quite happy with these collections and would look forward to reading the next one that I had lined up in the queue. This was a real letdown therefore. I read the first 5 stories and they were, in my opinion, terrible. This ain’t why I read. Yeesh. Luckily there were several to save the day, but overall the stories were mediocre. Here are the 21 stories and their authors and my ratings.

1. The Woman Who Lived in a Restaurant — Leona Ross — 1.5 stars
2. Arrivals — Robert Sheppard — 1.5 stars
3. Vain Shadows Flee — Mark Valentine — 1.5 stars
4. The Politics of Minor Resistance — Jessie Greengrass — 1 star
5. Walsingham — Trevor Fevin — 1 star
6. A Belgian Story — Ian Parkinson — 3 stars
7. Some Versions of Pastoral — DJ Taylor — 2.5 stars
8. Mrs. Swietokrzyskie’s Castle — Colette Sensier — 4 stars
9. A Leg to Stand On — Neil Campbell — 1.5 stars
10. Wyndham Le Strange Buys the School — Alex Preston — 3.5 stars
11. Song of the River — John Saul — 2 stars
12. 1961 — Greg Thorpe — 2.5 stars
13. 1977 — Crista Ermiya — 2.5 stars
14. The Staring Man — David Gaffney — 3.5 stars
15. The Bluebell Wood — Tony Peake — 4.5 stars
16. My Husband Wants to Talk to Me Again — Kate Hendry — 4.5 stars
17. In Theory, Theories Exist — Graham Mort — 1.5 stars
18. Control Knobs — Claire-Louise Bennett — 1 star
19. The Only Thing is Certain Is — Thomas McMullan — 3 stars
20. Live From the Palladium — Stuart Evers — 2.5 stars
21. Distance — Janice Galloway — 2.5 stars

Reviews
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[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

an excellent addition to the series with established writers like Leone Ross, Janice Galloway, Graham Mort and D J Taylor on top form. Also sharp pieces from writers I know like David Gaffney, Stuart Evers and John Saul. Of the unknowns (to me) I really liked the two stories named after years - 1961 and 1977 I think (I haven't got the book with me - will come back and fill in details), the one set in the call centre, the babies are coming! (Shepard), the one with the empty funeral urn (due to the super hot cremation no remains remain) set in the near future (I think), and the meditation on Belling oven control knobs. Excellent, engaging collection.

[Saffron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of short stories, there was really only one that I didn't enjoy. Many diverse topics and emotions covered.

My only small issue was with the order of the stories, it would have been nice to finish the book on a high, other than that, good selection of authors and tales.

[Dieuwke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I immensely enjoyed reading this collection. True, there's always one or two that one doesn't like as much (that whole pilgrimage thing - even after debating, and looking it up online, I still don't understand) but in this case there were four or five at least that were so good I'm actually grateful I've bought the book, so I can reread them as often as I like.

[Lauren McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was not a single story that bored me. I thought they were all beautifully written with well-formed characters and believable plots.

[Jackie Cain]

I don't normally like short stories but I embarked on this collection after my "Start Writing Fiction" course. I was pleasantly surprised by the stories and the experience of reading them. I think I should have a collection on the go to dip into when I don't have long to read and am just in the mood. I think they are more accessible as a learning tool as well. However, after a while I was yearning for the wider engagement of a novel. Collections of short stories have one benefit - if you dislike part of the collection, you just move on to the next. There were some really weird stories in here. The first one, “The Woman Who Lived in a Restaurant”, opened that mood very effectively. And some I just didn't get - they didn't go anywhere. Is this the result of so many creative writing courses that just talk about developing a character and leave out plot? I don't know. One story, “Vain Shadows Flee” did that but then knowingly talked about how the ideal end of a story would be a resolution, rather than the uncertainty the author actually provided. Oh, and “A Leg to stand on” tells an incident in the lives of two authors who are also creative writing lecturers which provides amusing commentary on that aspect of modern life, breaking the fourth wall in creative writing perhaps.

My favourite two stories in the book were “Wyndham Le Strange Buys the School”, which has a melancholy theme related to World War One, and “Mrs Świętokrzyskie’s Castle”, which explores some unexpected aspects of on-line gaming. For me, they were worth the purchase of the book but every other reader will probably find her own gems.

[Des Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Staring Man
DAVID GAFFNEY

“—1958.’
The couple looked innocently happy, their small trim frames somehow weightless, as if in those days there had been less gravity.”

An utterly moving story. But I am not sure why. A story of a model being modelled, the model maker Charlotte, her explanation of memorialising the Park as it once was, with her models of the people of the times, certain prescriptive rules as to the overall model, and her cameo staring man (like Hitchcock in all of his own films), staring outward or upward as if that made what was within or deeper below better. A belief in God or not. And an old ex teacher of English with a monochrome photo of him and his nuclear family from the days of the park and its paddling pool, or was it a boating lake? I dare not look back at it. We all can float, if we can relax, whatever it is. Let us take what takes us. And take those we can’t leave behind to fend for themselves. Better that the gravity could have taken her (his daughter) back then? My extrapolations from this story, but if you read it you may only be able to read its surface. It takes someone, an old man like me, to create a diversion from its depths. Or point to them disarmingly, more like.

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

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think there were any duds here, with the probable exception of the introduction by the editor which was weird.

Not a lot of sweetness here (often the way with short stories), but not overly sour either.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this for uni and, yeah, it's not something I would have picked up of my own accord. I thought Wyndham Le Strange Buys The School and 1961 were alright stories but generally I found the stories a bit hard to follow/confusing/jarring so not my cup of tea overall.

[Dom Creed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this collection for the next lil bit of my MA module. There were some incredible stories in this collection and wow, were there some bad ones.

Distance by Janice Galloway was absolutely impeccable though and will probs be thinking about it for a v v long time!!

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Vacation reading requirement, for Semester One*