The Lady in the Van [prose]
by Alan Bennett
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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, show more and follows his other little blockbuster The Clothes They Stood Up In. show lessTags
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Beautifully written memoir, recalling Bennett's unwanted guest, an eccentric vagrant who lived in the writer's front garden for 15 years. She is as fascinating as any of his fictional characters, from considering standing for parliament (though she doesn't want to talk to voters) to choosing independence in a filthy van to being institutionalised. Unsentimental, understated, funny, sad. And I am humbled by and grateful for Alan's grouchy generosity and kindness to someone that most of us would shy away from.
With Bennett's signature humor about the lady that moved into his garden in her van and stayed for twenty years, he writes about Miss S., a senior citizen and quite eccentric. This slim book consists of Bennett's entry in his diary about exchanges with her. For instance, she's quite keen on politics spends much of her time writing letters. She will form her own party to run for Parliament and call it Fidelity. Its platform will be Justice. She says it will have no opposition because who, after all, is opposed to justice? She spreads a blanket on the roof of her van to deaden the sound of rain. To clean it she sprinkles detergent so the rain can keep it clean.
It's a true story. Funny? Yes, of course. But also a little sad. How can this show more happen in a civilized society? How do we care for homeless or the mentally and still give them a sense of their own independence? The book has been made into a movie starring the inimitable Maggie Smith. Perhaps it will spark a conversation. show less
It's a true story. Funny? Yes, of course. But also a little sad. How can this show more happen in a civilized society? How do we care for homeless or the mentally and still give them a sense of their own independence? The book has been made into a movie starring the inimitable Maggie Smith. Perhaps it will spark a conversation. show less
I'd caught the end of the film and was curious to know what the story was. Ms Shepherd obviously had mental health issues but was also fiercely independent. Ms Shepherd parked up her van on the street originally where Alan Bennett and his neighbours saw her struggles, mostly sympathetic but didn't really want anything to do with her. She invariably got help her when she needed it though. Alan intervened after she had some trouble with the council over parking not being allowed on the street any more, and grudgingly let her stay parked on his driveway, off the road, for the rest of her life. Alan makes observations of her (unhygienic) life in the van and recounts his curious interactions with her over the years. For the most part, he show more leaves her to it, expressing a mixture of disgust, guilt, but mostly resignation to a life with a cantankerous old lady living in a van on his driveway. We never really find out about her past until the end. show less
One day, Miss Shepherd parked her van in Alan Bennett's driveway. She stayed there for 15 years. This very short book (practically a novella in size) recounts the story of her living in his driveway and who she was before she came to live there. This wasn't bad, but it felt insufficient. I would recommend the movie over the book, especially because the movie integrates Miss Shepherd's past more seamlessly into the present-day narrative.
What a surprising read. Miss S. is the epitome of eccentricity and sadly we never get to hear her whole story. I can't imagine having someone live in my driveway, for 15 years, and yet Alan Bennett managed just that and, in doing so, gave an old lady comfort.
I read this book in two short sittings. It's only about 100 pages long. And I believe this is the reason for my following comment. I expected more than I got.
I expected humour and heartbreak. I wanted both. Unfortunately, for me, the story was lacking emotion. Having said that, the author states that the entries are taken from his diary. Thing is, it reads just like that. There's no depth. No proper dialogue. And because of that, I didn't form the connection I would have like.
I believe there could have been more substance and for me, that would have made a huge difference to my reactions to what happened in the story. It's a pity, because I feel this book could have been quite different. Quite moving. It could have left me sobbing my show more heart heart. But it didn't. show less
I expected humour and heartbreak. I wanted both. Unfortunately, for me, the story was lacking emotion. Having said that, the author states that the entries are taken from his diary. Thing is, it reads just like that. There's no depth. No proper dialogue. And because of that, I didn't form the connection I would have like.
I believe there could have been more substance and for me, that would have made a huge difference to my reactions to what happened in the story. It's a pity, because I feel this book could have been quite different. Quite moving. It could have left me sobbing my show more heart heart. But it didn't. show less
Read: May 2017
As with Educating Rita which I read at roughly the same time as this, I saw the film version before I read the book - unusual for me. The film of The Lady in the Van was alright but dragged on a bit in my opinion. In contrast the book is very short; my copy was 101 pages long and I would have liked a little more detail in there. If I hadn't watched the film first I think I would have found it a bit too thin. It is set out in the form of Bennett's diary entries concerning Miss S. over the course of around fifteen years, right up to the day of her death. There was the occasional picture of Miss S. taken in her wheelchair or by her van but I would've liked to have seen more pictures too. Overall this was a fascinating little show more read, made all the more interesting by the fact that everything Bennett talks about actually happened and Miss S. was a real person.
Rating: 4/5 stars show less
As with Educating Rita which I read at roughly the same time as this, I saw the film version before I read the book - unusual for me. The film of The Lady in the Van was alright but dragged on a bit in my opinion. In contrast the book is very short; my copy was 101 pages long and I would have liked a little more detail in there. If I hadn't watched the film first I think I would have found it a bit too thin. It is set out in the form of Bennett's diary entries concerning Miss S. over the course of around fifteen years, right up to the day of her death. There was the occasional picture of Miss S. taken in her wheelchair or by her van but I would've liked to have seen more pictures too. Overall this was a fascinating little show more read, made all the more interesting by the fact that everything Bennett talks about actually happened and Miss S. was a real person.
Rating: 4/5 stars show less
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154+ Works 17,228 Members
Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He decided to apply for a scholarship at Oxford University. He was accepted by Exeter College, Oxford from which he graduated with a first-class degree in history. He was born on May 9, 1934; he is an English author, actor, humorist and playwright. Bennett was made an Honorary Fellow of Exeter show more College, Oxford in 1987. He was also awarded a D.Litt by the University of Leeds in 1990 and an Hon. PhD from Kingston in 1996. In October 2008 Bennett announced that he was donating his entire archive of working papers, unpublished manuscripts, diaries and books to the Bodleian Library free of charge, as a gesture of thanks and repaying a debt he felt he owed to the UK's social welfare system that had given him educational opportunities which his humble family background would otherwise never have afforded. In 2015 his title, Six Poets: Hardy to Larkin: An Anthology by Alan Bennett, made The New Zealand Best Seller List. He also made the list in 2016 with his title The Lady in the Van. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Lady in the Van [prose]
- Original title
- The lady in the van
- Original publication date
- 1989
- People/Characters
- Alan Bennett; Mary Shepherd
- Important places
- Camden Town, London, England, UK
- Related movies
- The Lady in the Van (2015 | IMDb)
- First words
- 'I ran into a snake this afternoon,' Miss Shepherd said. 'It was coming up Parkway. It was a long, grey snake - a boa constrictor possibly. It looked poisonous. It was keeping close to the wall and seemed to know its way. I'v... (show all)e a feeling it may have been headed for the van.' I was relieved that on this occasion she didn't demand that I ring the police, as she regularly did if anything out of the ordinary occurred.
- Quotations
- Good nature, or what is often considered as such, is the most selfish of all virtues: it is nine times out of ten mere indolence of disposition.
William Hazlitt, 'On the Knowledge of Character' (1822) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Her grave in the Islington St Pancras Cemetery is scarcely less commodious than the narrow space she slept in the previous twenty years. It is unmarked, but I think as someone so reluctant to admit her name or divulge any information about herself, she would not have been displeased by that.
- Disambiguation notice
- The Lady in the Van is the title of two distinct works by Alan Bennett, a prose narrative (1989) and a play (2000). This work record is for the prose narrative. Please do not combine it with the ... (show all)record for the play.
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- 6 — Catalan, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
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- ASINs
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