Granta Best of Young British Novelists 4

Once a decade, since 1983, Granta has compiled a list of the 20 best British novelists under the age of 40. Accompanying the announcement is a volume featuring a short piece of work from each selected writer. This year's selection differs from previous decades in that, for the first time, we find a majority of women dominating the list. In addition there is a truly international flavour to what is in the collection; an acknowledgement of the multiple diasporas any sort of modern idea of Britishness must include.

We see this in Kamila Shamsie's Vipers, an excerpt from her forthcoming novel about the experience of British Indian soldiers fighting in Europe during WWII. David Szalay's Europa is an examination of the strange relationships that develop through human trafficking and prostitution in London. Many of the stories take place outside of Britain, such as Ned Beauman's Glow, or Evie Wyld's After the Hedland. Jenni Fagan envisions a Britain on the verge of environmental collapse; Londoners fleeing the bursting banks of an overflowing Thames. Putting aside the Britishness of the collection, however, it is the quality of the writing which will define this generation, and the quality is very, very good. [Ryan Rushton]