Univ’s Lecturer in English, Dr Laura Varnam, was invited to take part in the Halloween episode of the popular literary podcast Backlisted, hosted by John Mitchinson and Andy Miller. “Giving new life to old books”, each Backlisted episode focuses on a book or author that deserves a wider audience and this year for discussion at Halloween, guests Laura Varnam and Andrew Male (senior associate editor of Mojo magazine and writer) chose Daphne du Maurier’s 1959 short story collection The Breaking Point.

Laura is currently writing a book on Daphne du Maurier and she regularly appears at Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature, talking about Du Maurier’s life and work; she comments: “I was delighted to be asked to appear on Backlisted and to talk about this lesser known short story collection in which characters are brought to their breaking point with the characteristic atmosphere and tension that we come to expect from Du Maurier.”

Taking in Rebecca, The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte, and Don’t Look Now, and with audio-clips of Du Maurier herself, the episode situates the story collection in the context of Du Maurier’s work and her subsequent literary reputation which, as Laura argues, is finally on the rise.

Listen to the episode at backlisted.fm

Published: 30 October 2019

Explore Univ on social media