Surprisingly not terrible. I generally hate the idea of fan fic, but since it was wedged in with the Sarah Waters’ books I was forced to give it a glance. Waters didn’t actually write any of the stories (bummer!), but she did judge the entries and select the winners. I also admit to being sort of enamored by the populist notion of a real deal short story competition. As with any multi-author collection, there are strong and weak entries and everything in between. Jane Austen over the Styx and The Delaford Ladies’ Detective Agency are my absolute favorites, but then there are some that slipped right out of my head as soon as I'd finished them. The most important thing, however, is that I immediately felt an urge to re-read every single Austen novel* and that really can’t be a bad thing!
*Well, maybe not Northanger Abbey.
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