One of the wonderful secrets of the London Underground is that the trains and tunnels of the Waterloo & City line are often used in films. In this story by Joe Mungo Reed, the final in our podcast series, a daughter visits her film director father on set, to bring a family situation to his attention. In between takes, Laura contemplates their relationship, her childhood and her father’s character: his control, his absorption, his self-belief.

Joe Mungo Reed was born in London and currently lives in Edinburgh. He has a degree in Politics and Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh and an MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. His first novel We Begin Our Ascent (published in July 2018) is described by Man Booker Prize winner George Saunders as “a dazzling debut by an exciting and essential new talent.”

Underground: Tales for London features original short stories by London-loving authors from across the world. Each story, written by a Borough Press author, will be available to Evening Standard readers as a free podcast, from standard.co.uk.

You can pre-order We Begin Our Ascent by Joe Mungo Reed here

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