Tales from a Master's Notebook is a collection of short stories by authors such as Paul Theroux, Colm Toibin, Rose Tremain , Jonathan Coe taking Henry James as their starting point.

What a brilliant idea! I loved dipping in and out of this anthology and would highly recommend it. I learned more about Henry James and ended up reading more of his work as well.

An absolutely superb collection of short stories from such heavy weight authors like Paul Theroux, Colm Toibin, Rose Tremain , Jonathan Coe using ideas from Henry James original Notebooks. I absolutely loved this collection !

As stated in the informative foreword by Michael Wood and in the introduction by Philip Horne (who has edited this collection) these short stories by the impressively selected acclaimed authors are based on ideas taken from Henry Jame's writer's notebooks which never materlised further. What is interesting is that all are reflective of the individual author's style rather than being merely derivative which would have inevitably lead to them appearing as mere pastiches. It is often said that the short story format is one of the hardest to successfully master and certainly the addition of these intriguing and interesting tales are certainly feats that can be added to these authors already well regarded repertoire.

In the appendix - Subjects from James Notebook - we usefully discover the source and inspiration of the story's origin. There are ten short stories in this collection, all I found of interest but for me personally there were two that I particularly enjoyed which were "Is Anybody There" by Rose Tremain a classic haunting ghostly tale that has echoes of "The Turn of the Screw" as it is not clear whether this is a supernatural occurrence or the imaginings of the mind and "The Troll" by Philip Home himself which is an increasingly dark tale of being trashed by an anonymous reviewer which as the title suggests has much resonance in today's world of social media.

The book also contains a brief biography of the contributors and a photography of one of Jame's original notes. This has turned out to be a delight for someone like me who enjoys a good short story compilation and also to someone who is interested and enjoys the works of James himself.

The intriguing title initially peaked my interest for this anthology, and I then discovered a synopsis that told of a concept too exciting to pass over:

"When Henry James died he left behind a series of notebooks, fascinating records of his thinking and working life, which include around sixty ideas, or what James called 'germs', for fictions he didn't write. Professor Philip Horne, a renowned authority on Henry James, has commission ten authors and Jamesian enthusiasts to write new short stories based on these 'germs'."

I had previously only read from one of the collected authors here, Colm Toibin, and was pleased to sample a broad and largely unknown to me collection of writers. I have definitely added a few of the assembled names to my list of authors to hopefully, one day, read more from.

Short story collections penned by a variety of authors are always going to receive a mixture of opinions, due to the personal preference of the varied styles of penmanship. So whilst I can not say that each story in this anthology was a four star read for me, overall this star rated reflected both my enjoyment of the stories read as well as the marvellous concept that bound them all together.

Breakdown of each, individual star rating:
Father X by Paul Theroux - 2/5 stars
Silence by Colm Toibin - 4/5 stars
Is There Anybody There? by Rose Tremain - 3/5 stars
Canadians Can't Flirt by Jonathan Coe - 4/5 stars
Old Friends by Tessa Hadley - 3.5/5 stars
The Road to Gabon by Giles Foden - 2/5 stars
Testaments by Lynne Truss - 4.5/5 stars
Wensleydale by Amit Chaudhuri - 2/5 stars
People Were So Funny by Susie Boyt - 4/5 stars
The Troll by Philip Horne - 4/5 stars

What holds this collection of stories together conceptually is that they all take their initial inspiration from Henry James' writer's notebooks - they're built from the ideas that never became stories for James. That said, these are not necessarily Jamesian in form, tone or content and stand as a selection of tales written by respected contemporary writers. Fans of the short story who are not fans of James are still likely to find much to like here.

As with all story collections, not all will be to each reader's taste: the Paul Theroux felt quite slight to me, needing more space to become effective; while the Toibin captured something quiet yet remarkable. Coe' s knockabout comedy in the back of a taxi brings James' social comedy into our present, and Foden and Chaudhuri explore what happens when you develop James's ideas in Africa and India.

Overall, this is a relatively short but classy collection, showcasing contemporary stories with varying levels of connection to James.