You always know you're in incredibly safe hands when Zadie's name is on the cover! A collection of short stories than just improves with each re-read.

A collection of short stories by one of Britain's most successful authors. This very talented writer gives a selection of tales that cover a whole range of topics but all have Smith's powerful and creative use of language and ideas.

There are nineteen stories that vary in theme, from dystopia to classic classroom teacher-style to social class, racism and general bigotry. There is humour and wisdom throughout. Particular favourites are The Lazy River, which tells of the typical British tourist staying at an all-inclusive Spanish holiday resort. The Dialectic is about a single mother of four on holiday in Sopot, who says that she would like to be on good terms with animals while eating a chicken wing. Miss Adele Among the Corsets concerns a retiring drag queen and looks at different aspects of prejudice. The best story is Sentimental Education where a woman reflects on her time at university as one of two people of colour. Some of the ideas here really made me think!

The book has no general theme to tie the stories together other than excellent writing, but is observational and thought-provoking. Not as good as Smith's novels but the fertile imagination is alive and well.

Zadie Smith has always been hit or miss for me and unfortunately this was a miss. Zadie is clearly an incredibly intelligent women but when she tries to be too clever in her stories they just miss the mark for me and I am ashamed to say I just 'dont get it'.

Anything Smith writes I will eat right up but unfortunately this is not for me. I didn’t really get into the writing style and it lacked consistency.

I have been dipping into these short stories, but have yet to be engaged beyond the superficial. I have loved Zadie Smith's novels, but short stories are a different animal. They have to grab you pretty quickly and carry you along with their energy or insight. These have not done so for me and have not remained long after reading, as her impressive novels have done. Rather a disappointment.

I enjoyed some of the stories in this and found them timely and topical, but I wouldn't rush to recommend this book.

I had high hopes for Zadie Smith but these stories were just confusing, disjointed and discombobulating; it was like watching the momentary, disparate flickers behind a person's eyes without ever understanding what they see. Honestly, I think I am just going to wait and read her full-length novels.

This is a great collection of Smith's writing. The stories are intriguing and insightful and fans of her novels with adore this anthology of her short stories.

Zadie Smith is a wonderful writer, but this one was not for me-not Zadie's best work. Plenty of thought-provoking tales, but sadly I found the majority boring. Three stars.

Her first collection of short stories and it does not disappoint. Zadie Smith has such a wonderful turn of phrase, a comic lightness even with very dark subjects, and a philosopher's view of the world and how we live in it.

Not every story is perfect, but you can learn something from all of them. The Lazy River and Sentimental Education were particularly outstanding.

Overall, I found this collection of Zadie Smith's short stories much less engaging than her novels or essays unfortunately. This is all too often the case with well-known critically acclaimed novelists who bring out a disparate selection of writing, most of which has already been published in magazines over the past two decades. There are occasions where her observation skills are evident, skewering aspects of life or character that you may have noticed subconsciously but never acknowledged - The Lazy River about Brits abroad is one example of this. However, many of the other stories seemed more like exercises in style which didn't really work for me.

I adore Zadie Smith, but for me Grand Union lacked the development which I so loved with Smith's other works. The nature of the short story, as limited in length, was its downfall for me. I wanted more from each of the stories. Her writing is fabulous though.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

Some interesting stories, characters and engaging dialogue. But this is different from her novels and the depth they bring wasn’t really here for me.

I’m not usually one for short stories so my opinion should be taken with a pinch of salt, however I found this book very hit and miss. Some of the stories drew me in and made me wish they filled much more than a chapter, others felt like they were a draft outline and didn’t appeal to me. On the plus side, it was a very quick read.
Sorry, it’s just not for me - I’ll continue to read the author’s new novels, but will steer clear of any future short stories.

While I quite liked a couple of the stories, I found most of them didn't make an impact on them. I didn't see the point to them or they didn't make sense, and overall, I felt I needed more substance.

I was slightly disappointed by this collection. I've loved Smith's other work for its emotional connection to the subject matter, but for me these stories felt more like an intellectual exercise. As a proviso, I don't often read short stories so maybe that's what they're meant to be?

Smith does manage to touch on a range of different subjects - class, gender, Brexit, the refugee crisis, homophobia - though for me the stories about race were the ones that really connected. I'll still look forward to her next novel but these left me slightly cold.

Some of the stories here are very interesting, loaded with intent and chock full of great lessons for characters and readers alike. However, others feel like experiments that haven't had the chance to stew and flourish, so quite a few stories seem turgid. Without question I scanned through entire stories when I lost attention or didn't feel 'caught' enough to buy in- there are stories here which simply lack the drama that pulls a reader along. Where they are good (Sentimental Education, Now More Than Ever), they are wonderful and complex- Smith does immense work in discussions about identity, doubts and belonging and these are the ones which make for a great read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Books and Hamish Hamilton for the copy of this book. I have read and enjoyed a few of Zadie Smith's novels and have enjoyed them, however I was less keen on this. I do like her style of writing, with its clever, often drily witty comments and thoughtful observations on so many aspects of life, but felt there was something lacking. Perhaps it was the overall lack of coherence - maybe it was just me but I couldn't find a common thread between the stories. Some I liked more than others and quite enjoyed this book in an on and off kind of way!

Great writing, as you'd expect from Zadie Smith, but I'm struggling a bit so this is on pause for a while. The stories are varied and clever, but sometimes just a tiny bit too clever, self-consciously over-neat and too carefully structured. It's a bit, oh here comes the big reveal.