Jackson at her best: plumbing the extraordinary from the depths of mid-twentieth-century common. [Just an Ordinary Day] is a gift to a new generation

For Jackson devotees, as well as first-time readers, this is a feast ... A virtuoso collection

One of the great practitioners of the literature of the darker impulses

The world of Shirley Jackson is eerie and unforgettable

There is big, dangerous vitality herein - this book marks the emergence of a great, stomping, wall-knocking talent.

Reading the stories brought the sense of being trapped in a room slowly, but very surely, filling up with water. You think: this can't be happening. Meanwhile, hold your breath against the certainty it surely is.

Within these magical, ingenious stories lies all of the angst, horror and beauty of adolescence. A brilliant achievement.

In a year that made me furious, Daisy Johnson’s Fen was a howl I didn’t know I needed. [...] It’s hauntingly written and full of unabashedly, refreshingly angry women who are hungry — both figuratively and literally — for things long denied them.

[A] remarkable debut… Johnson’s well-judged narrative distance and her fine use of language…help to transform the familiar, the domestic, the provincial into something terribly beautiful.

[A] startling and inventive debut… The stories in Fen invest familiar scenarios with fresh energy.

Johnson is possessed of the rare ability to trust in the power of language, and this allows her to trust in the force and the fecundity of her voice… An assembly of imaginings that linger in the mind as dark miracles and shadowed celebrations, and as intensely resonant reckonings with our hidden ways of being.

Johnson’s excellent debut is set in the precarious and artificial landscape of the East Anglian fens… Fen has been compared to the stories of Angela Carter, but for me it recalls the poetry of Robin Robertson.

Strange, half-magical short stories…I’ve had my eye on it for weeks.

I've been working my way slowly through Fen and not wanting it to end - Daisy marries realism to the uncanny so well that the strangest turnings ring as truth. The echoes between stories give the collection a wonderfully satisfying cohesion, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

Dark magical realism meets incisive social critique and deep-sea psychological diving in this arresting short- story collection… Atmosphere is the driving force in these stories, imbued with the damp, liminal qualities of their setting, and expressed through sensual, elemental descriptions of land, water and skies… [An] outstanding and unforgettable debut.

With more than a passing nod to Graham Swift’s Waterland, Fen weaves together the gothic magical realism, and fairytale. The best of them have real power… Fen is an ambitious first collection that marks out Daisy Johnson as a writer to watch.

Vivid and unsettling. Johnson’s brilliant short stories will haunt and taunt you.

Fen is uncanny and fantastic: it will be really exciting to see what Johnson does next.

An absorbing read, blending dark magical realism and social critique… The stories are made memorable by their uncanny imagery and the rich originality of the language. But a strongly conjured atmosphere is the driving force, with the damp, liminal qualities of the setting seeping into every aspect of the narratives. A brilliant debut.

Tremendously strange short stories but they stay with you.

A strange, fantastical squelch through watery East Anglia...one of the most impressive collections of short stories in recent years

An undeniably enjoyable dose of escapism

Mark Haddon has become a master of the short story…this new collection intrigues and horrifies by turn

Gripping tale… Told with forensic precision.

Exuberant, lusty exercises in juxtaposition… Such contrasts not only power each piece but also act as a form of call and response across them… Terrifically compelling collection.

Impressive but forbiddingly lightless collection. There’s no doubt about Haddon’s skill.

Have you ever read a book that made you gasp out loud and nearly burst into tears? The title story…had that effect on me… Haddon is able to give human tragedy the due solemnity it deserves but without being po-faced. A wonderful collection.

Guaranteed to keep me riveted.

Gripping… Packs the action and themes that might power a very full novel into less than 70 pages

Scintillating first foray into the shorter form… Beautifully crafted… A challenging and idiosyncratic talent, with a memorable way with words.

[Haddon] portrays the nightmares of our own society…with astonishing deftness, mixing black humour and pathos.

The Pier Falls had me gasping in disbelief.

[It was] grim and compelling… [A] ripping, gripping yarn – narrative velcro.

I savoured all the atmospheric short stories in The Pier Falls.

An enthralling short story collection; dark, immersive stories with lots of action. The writing is tight and inspiring.

[A] searing collection of short stories that thrill and chill in equal measure.

I was also captivated by the dark A Pier Falls, a brilliantly written collection of bleak and brutal short stories.

I adored The Pier Falls… Each story is wildly entertaining and well written.

[It] proves the capacity of a short story to immerse the reader fully in a fictional world.

This short-story collection is thrilling and exquisitely written. I gave out several copies as Christmas presents.

An exquisite writer.

Mesmerisingly good stories, hugely varied, skilfully written, full of deft touches and narrative shocks... an absolute treat