The Lady In The Van by Alan Bennett

What The Cover Says:  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 early 1970s 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”.

What I Says:  I’m a big fan of the movie adaptation of this book, Maggie Smith is incredible, so when I started reading the book the voices were already there.  I didn’t realise just how well Maggie captured Miss Shepherd, all her mannerisms were spot on.

This is non-fiction, the book is taken from notes out of Bennett’s diaries, he sat at his desk most days writing and his view was of a bright yellow van in his driveway occupied by brilliantly eccentric old lady.  The book highlights her daily activities, accepting post, giving her shopping lists to people and scaring the crap out of Vincent Price.  There are plenty of laughs as Bennett against his better judgement bows down to Miss Shepherd’s demands and there are plenty of sad moments as you witness the way this poor old lady is living.

A brilliant read, very short but feels like an epic.