Tea and Crumpet is a companion piece anthology to the British Flash anthology, but features stories greater in length than 1000 words. Two of the stories are about lesbians, and the other sixteen focus on gay men.

Several made a strong impression upon me, including Making Camp by Clare London, which contains the funniest line in the anthology. A city boy on a camping trip wakes up and surveys his rustic surroundings with horror: "I stared at the world through dilated pupils, panting, expecting to see the Four Horsemen charging in on some satanic version of a tractor."

Good Breeding by JL Merrow details the sharply funny ordeal of a class-conscious snob reconnecting with his working class parents. On The Pull by Elin Gregory is so vividly drawn you feel you're in an English pub. Riding with Hob by Alex Beecroft is a haunting supernatural piece with morris dancers. Bloody Mathematicians by Charlie Cochrane is so pitch-perfect, early 20th century British that it almost reads like CS Lewis.

My two favorites in the anthology are complete opposites. Sweet Temptation by Jennie Caldwell is a beautiful, subtle piece that meshes Anglican faith and gay sexual orientation into a single, compatible epiphany. Blooming Marvellous by Josephine Myles combines playful sexual tension with funny dialog as two opposites meet during a community service project.

Tea and Crumpet is an anthology bursting with talent. It is one of my recommended reads for August in the aRe Wildfire newsletter.