As books, as objects, they are as good as it gets, quality paper, thick-set, sewn, and handsome enough to hang on a wall. . . Hensher's anthology is bigger, better and broader in several senses than anything else currently available

Like one of the legion of cantankerous, eccentric hosts we meet across this generous terrain, Hensher knows how to lay a grand spread...so enjoy the feast

Anyone reading this collection jsut for pleasure should start at the end of the second volume and work backwards...it would quickly bring you to four outstanding stories by women...each of these, though quickly over, leaves a lasting mark in the mind

Big and clever...three cheers then, for this chunky two-volume anthology, edited by Philip Hensher with imagination and a dash of mischievous wit

Made me shiver with pleasure

Charted a very personal view of the form's development from the early 18th century to the present day'

It's been a big year for anthologies and few come bigger than The Penguin Book of the British Short Story. Philip Hensher's introduction is spiky and thought-provoking and Volume I: From Daniel Defoe to John Buchan and Volume II: From P.G. Wodehouse to Zadie Smith (Penguin Classic, £25 each) offer readers the chance to enjoy the varieties and mutations of British stories across four centuries.

In two handsomely designed volumes ... you have to admire Hensher's championing of unfamiliar names alongside established greats

Full of moments of risk, which Kennedy's characters handle self-consciously and with care... She strings lyrical sentences together effortlessly.

Beautifully crafted... It would be impossible not to admire these stories.

Kennedy dissects the small intimacies of inner thought and holds them palm-up, naked, there for our observation and evaluation. Her prose is typically direct, her sentences clear cut and yet capable of great tenderness.

Full of heartache and the ways in which we hurt each other, and ourselves... Fans of Kennedy's quirky expressionism won't be disappointed.

Evidence that, at her best, there’s no-one to touch Kennedy.

Full of challenges and beauty.

This is a sure-footed and intelligently organized collection. These small pieces encompass an extensive emotional territory

An arresting collection that blends poetic imagery, raw emotion and cerebral insight

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

A superb first novel . . . [it is] a significant achievement to produce a book of this quality . . . [there is] a wonderful sense of place.

Reminiscent of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas and just as ambitious

An impressive debut.

Already on the longlist for the Baileys Prize, this is an island story told in daisy-chain sequence, a series of succinct vignettes that come together as a vivid portrait of the Shore itself, until you can almost smell the salt air and the stench of slaughtered chicken.

Some extraordinary images . . . a wonderful first novel.

Taylor’s prose is dreamy and surprisingly playful.

A wonderful read.

Exuberant, magical and incredibly ambitious, but Sara Taylor pulls it off with style.

Taylor shows a special affinity with the lives of women that makes for a powerful debut