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.
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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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
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.
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.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
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.
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.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
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.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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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
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.
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
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%
funny - can recommend this book 100%
Published 4 months ago by D. Wallace
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