The Lady in the Van: Play (Faber Plays) and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
Start reading The Lady in the Van: Play (Faber Plays) on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The Lady In The Van [Paperback]

Alan Bennett
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
RRP: £4.99
Price: £3.74 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £1.25 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want delivery by Saturday, 25 May? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £3.55  
Paperback £3.74  
Audio, CD, Audiobook £10.07  
Book Supplement, Audiobook --  
Audio Download, Unabridged £4.87 or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more.

Book Description

18 Mar 1999
Alan Bennett is the author of Writing Home, The Madness of George III, Talking Heads, The Clothes They Stood Up In and much else besides. Miss Shepherd lived in a Robin Reliant opposite Bennett's house in Camden Town. After a series of attacks on her van, he suggested she move, with her van, to his front drive. Initially reluctant, she agreed - and Bennett landed himself a tenancy that went on for fifteen years. The Lady in the Van is probably Alan Bennett's best-known work of non-fiction, and follows his other little blockbuster The Clothes They Stood Up In.

Frequently Bought Together

The Lady In The Van + The Uncommon Reader + Smut: Two Unseemly Stories
Price For All Three: £13.99

Buy the selected items together


Product details

  • Paperback: 96 pages
  • Publisher: Profile Books; New Ed edition (18 Mar 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1861971222
  • ISBN-13: 978-1861971227
  • Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 14.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Amazon Review

Life imitates art in The Lady in the Van, the story of the itinerant Miss Shepherd, who lived in a van in Alan Bennett's driveway from the early1970s until her death in 1989. It is doubtful that Bennett could have made up the eccentric Miss Shepherd if he tried, but his poignant, funny but unsentimental account of their strange relationship is akin to his best fictional screen writing.

Bennett concedes that "One seldom was able to do her a good turn without some thoughts of strangulation", but as the plastic bags build up, the years pass by and Miss Shepherd moves into Bennett's driveway, a relationship is established which defines a certain moment in late 20th-century London life which has probably gone forever. The dissenting, liberal, middle-class world of Bennett and his peers comes into hilarious but also telling collision with the world of Miss Shepherd: "there was a gap between our social position and our social obligations. It was in this gap that Miss Shepherd (in her van) was able to live".

Bennett recounts Miss Shepherd's bizarre escapades in his inimitable style, from her letter to the Argentinean Embassy at the height of the Falklands War, to her attempts to stand for Parliament and wangle an electric wheelchair out of the Social Services. Beautifully observed, The Lady in the Van is as notable for Bennett's attempts to uncover the enigmatic history of Miss Shepherd, as it is for its amusing account of her eccentric escapades. --Jerry Brotton

Review

"...a wonderfully bittersweet comic diary of the years in which a lethally dotty and very smelly old bat parked her unroadworthy vehicle in Bennett's Camden garden, thereby providing him with a roughly equal amount of good journalistic copy and guilty landlordly irritation." Sheridan Morley, Spectator" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing work of non-fiction 16 Nov 2008
By S J Buck TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
'The Lady in the Van' is a completely true story. In the 1970's and 1980's outside Alan Bennett's own house in Camden an old lady (Miss Shepherd) lived in a Van in the street. After a time she could no longer stay on the street. Amazingly Bennett allowed her to move her Van into his garden and there she remained until she died.

This is a remarkable story, and its one of the funniest yet moving pieces of writing that I have ever read. Bennett is a marvellous observer of people and his humanity shines through. Miss Shephard's living conditions were frankly disgusting (just think of the smell) and this would be enough to put most people off having any contact with her at all.

Bennett here has written one of the finest works of moving and poignant non-fiction I know of.
Was this review helpful to you?
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful little book 19 July 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Miss Shepherd is in many ways a typical Alan Bennett character - often very funny yet sometimes tragic and with an interesting tale to tell. She could easily be one of the characters from his 'Talking Heads' monologues. However, this is a work of non-fiction and she actually did come with her collection of plastic bags to live in her van on his front drive - and stayed for a number of years. Bennett brilliantly manages to convey the delicate balance present in their complex relationship, even when it doesn't show him in the most positive of light. As he puts it: 'One seldom was able to do her a good turn without some thoughts of strangulation.' Don't we all know someone like that?

As the book was created from notes he had made relating to Miss Shepherd in his diary over a number of years, there is not one story running through this book. What emerges, however, is an honest and touching but never sentimental story of a enigmatic character - a real one-of-a-kind.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars a good read 28 July 2010
By coney
Format:Paperback
The Lady in the Van is well worth reading. Alan Bennett is an excellent writer and holds the reader's attention all the way through the story.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo to Alan Bennett.
The Lady in the Van was every bit as good as we have come to expect from Alan Bennett,he paints pictures with words a rare talent,I could feel the warmth and sympathy directed to... Read more
Published 25 days ago by valerie stanton
2.0 out of 5 stars Read at one sitting
Lovely rememberings of an eccentric. Britain is the sadder for the loss of such people, a gentler option of those who choose not to accept the confines of societal norms.
Published 1 month ago by P. A. Moncaster
5.0 out of 5 stars Lady in Van -
Had read this book before and so I bought a copy for my mother. I loved the book. It was funny,poignant,sad and thought provoking. Amazing to think it was a true story.
Published 1 month ago by H. Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars send your wife to sleep at night
Alan is his usual witty self, beautifully described story enough to keep you chuckling for a long time, difficult to put down once started
Published 2 months ago by Mr. B. Halsall
5.0 out of 5 stars A Re Read
This was a re read, read it some years ago, then saw it performed on the stage with Maggie Smith, enjoyed reading it second time round. Read more
Published 2 months ago by sue winter
5.0 out of 5 stars SUPERB PLAYRIGHT
I HAVE BOUGHT THIS FOR MY SISTER AS THIS IS ONE OF ALAN BENNETT'S STORIES/PLAYS SHE HAS NOT HEARD.IT IS ALMOST SURREAL WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE LADY IN THE VAN CAME TO STAY. Read more
Published 2 months ago by D. Constable
4.0 out of 5 stars The lady in the van
Yes I enjoyed this very much all my family agree too
It was a good listen.. I do like Alan bennett
Published 2 months ago by sandra
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
All of Alan Bennett plays make you feel like you are part of the scene.
He makes you laugh, but at the same time shows tremendous empathy with his subject.
Published 3 months ago by ellie
5.0 out of 5 stars The Lay in the van
A super little book and story, I have heard the play on cassette
as always engaging and poignant from Alan Bennett
Published 3 months ago by Mary Crudgington
5.0 out of 5 stars The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett
I loved this book - gave me an insight into Alan Bennett's sympathetic and caring personality of the 'Van Lady'. Sad and
funny - can recommend this book 100%
Published 4 months ago by D. Wallace
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
Brilliant ! 0 1 Mar 2009
See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Discussion Replies Latest Post
What are you reading now? 8073 5 hours ago
how much can you trust an editor? 26 6 hours ago
want to move away from the celebrity auto/biography- ideas please 496 7 hours ago
Books that publicly embarrassed you 324 7 hours ago
Please keep self promo for the Meet Our Authors Forum! 442 8 hours ago
Come on - why don't we write our own book right here in the fiction forum ? I'll do the first sentence, and then jump in....hold on, here we go... 7128 9 hours ago
sexual obsession 50 10 hours ago
Are there any people out there writing biographies of obscure people? 282 15 hours ago
Search Customer Discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges