Join me this week as I settle back into city life, enjoying a moment of peace before Oxford comes alive for the day. Listen as I discuss a Cambridge based story of growing up, adventure through a political battlefield, and contemplate the links between poetry and memory.

This week I'll be considering And He Shall Appear by Kate van der Borgh, a tale of the trails and tribulations of attempting to capture the attention of the most popular boy in your Oxbridge college. Learning about a new period in history with the help of Timothée Chalamet's compelling performance in The King. And considering a poem which is referenced in one of my favourite plays.

References made

The Graces (Laure Eve) - A YA novel about a family who claim to be witches and the girl who is desperate to be one of them... perhaps she already is.

Atonement (Ian McEwan) - A novel about the Tallis family told from the perspectives of the two daughters and the housekeeper's son. The best lesson in perspectives within fiction you will find.

Evelyn Waugh - Oxford educated English writer best known for Brideshead Revisted, a novel set at Oxford. This is probably not where the trope in question originated from, but it's earliest example I can think of.

Saltburn - 2023 thriller comedy directed and written by Emerald Fennell set partly in Oxford during 2006. Controversial for its content but accurate in its capturing of the essence of Oxford.

A Discovery of Witches - First novel of the All Souls series written by Deborah Harkness about magical creatures at Oxford, adapted into television series staring Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer. Dr Bishop, a witch and academic encounters a strange manuscript which captures the interest of vampire Professor Matthew Clairmont.

Ninth House - First of (currently) two novels by Leigh Bardugo set at Yale, where Alex Stern is one of a number of students responsible for monitoring the antics of a number of occult societies. Well worth a read!

Henry V & VI Part 1 & 2 - Three of Shakespeare's Histories.

Testament of Youth - Memoir by Vera Brittain about her life from childhood, through Oxford and the experiences of nursing during the First World War. A beautiful and moving story about love and loss and even more loss.

Wilfred Owen - British First World War poet.

The Professor and the Madman - 2019 film starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. A good insight into quite how laborious a process it was.

Narnia - Fictional world created by Oxford academic C. S. Lewis in book series The Chronicles of Narnia.

Twilight - Romance book series by Stephanie Meyer about Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen. Addictive writing that still remains one of the most read series and the most hated.

Cedric Diggory - Character from the Harry Potter series, specifically the books Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Water for Elephants - 2011 film staring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Patterson based on 2006 novel by Sara Gruen. Set at a circus during the Great Depression.

Y Gododdin - Collection of 6th century elegy poems by Welsh court poet Aneirin.

The History Boys - Play by Alan Bennett about a group of History students aiming for Oxbridge against all odds. Full of clever lines and literary references.

Wind in the Willows - Book by Kenneth Grahame about Mr Mole and his friends. Beloved British childhood classic.

King Lear - Tragic Shakespeare play loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain in which the king attempts to divide his kingdom between his three daughters with tragic repercussions.

Brief Encounter - 1945 film written by Noel Coward and based on the one act play Still Life. The story of a jaded housewife who begins a relationship with a chance encounter.

The Secret History - Cult academic favourite written by Donna Tartt.

If We Were Villains - Dark academia novel by M. L. Rio.