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Sunday Telegraph
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There are two tiers of narrative throughout the book. There is the straightforward chronological history of the childhood and development of Sheila Hancock and John Thaw, told in separate chapters up until their paths meet and, after the loss of Sheila's first husband and the break-up of John's first marriage, their wedding. Thereafter the story tends to concentrate on John's life - while it by no means neglects the successful part of his career, making Regan and Morse in particular characters that will never be forgotten, it does relate in candid detail his struggle to come to terms with being a celebrity, his difficulty in communicating in person with even his closest family, his moods and ultimately his drinking. We are spared the gory details but the relatively unemotional recounting of the events, and his eventual overcoming of them, juxtaposed with the occasional cards or letters he would write expressing his love, do make it gripping to read. Sheila's own career and personal difficulties (she had her own cancer scare) are covered but briefly at this time.
As if that weren't enough, the whole narrative is peppered with extracts from Sheila's diary, acting as a second tier to the story, starting from January 2001, three months before any inkling of John's illness, through his swift decline and then death in February 2002, and her struggle to come to terms with her loss. Again, we are spared the gory details but the process is no less harrowing for this; shining through it all is the undying love they had for each other, having survived the trials and tribulations of what had gone before. You do have to be disciplined and not just skip forward reading these diary notes alone - for example John's death is recorded at just about the point where they marry in the main narrative, - and you will miss a lot of relevant history if you do.
It's a story of life and love, of tears and happiness, of struggles and success, and almost none of the name-dropping that features in most auto/biographies. It is both sad and heart-warming, and that, coming from one relatively cold-hearted male, is acclaim indeed.
I remember her in the Rag Trade when I was tiny ,had no idea of the depth and seriousness of her theatre background.
Read this book!
but keep hankies nearby.
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