There are few things more exciting to me than new writing by the literary goddess-tier author Zadie Smith. Her latest offering, Grand Union, brings together nineteen short stories set across different times, places, and realities, united by a common thread of characters who are, in a way, out of place: migrants, elderly punks, futuristic teenage boys ripped from their virtual reality headsets – all fish out of water.

They are also concerned with moments of misunderstanding – in ‘Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets’, an ageing drag queen journeys across New York City to buy a new corset. The story ends with an argument between Miss Adele and the shopkeeper – Miss Adele perceives a potential pattern of discrimination, which the shopkeeper denies. The footing of this argument feels uncertain – it’s hard to work out who to agree with, and Smith compells her reader to consider the rights and wrongs of both parties. This tale is a masterclass in eliciting an empathetic response from what is sure to be a broad readership. I could find examples of this in every single story in this collection, but sadly our beloved Readings Monthly just doesn’t have that space to give.

On a sentence level, Smith’s writing is quite flawless. Her voice is always restrained, intelligent and introspective, and there just isn’t a clunky phrase to be found in these pages. Emotion is a sneaky thing in Grand Union – you might not laugh or cry outright, but the melancholy and joy and comedy of these stories will creep up on you and linger.

Some of the stories in Grand Union have been published elsewhere (namely the New Yorker, Granta and the Paris Review), so will possibly be familiar to die-hard fans. But here together, they make for a very contemporary glance at the world’s problems, where they have happened before and continue to happen now, and where they might lead us.

Ellen Cregan is the marketing and events coordinator.