This van (and its successor, bought in 1983) now occupied a paved area between my front door and the garden gate, the bonnet of the van hard by my front step, its rear door, which Miss S.

The Lady in the Van · LRB 26 October 1989 Alan Bennett · The Lady in the Van · LRB 26 October 1989

Hats were always a feature: a black railwayman’s hat with a long neb worn slightly on the skew so that she looked like a drunken signalman or a French guardsman of the 1880s; there was her Charlie Brown pitcher’s hat; and in June 1977 an octagonal straw table mat, tied on with a chiffon scarf and a bit of cardboard for the peak. Describes a book or dust jacket that has the complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc.I thought it was one of those unspoken secrets that everybody knows- surely many of us had uncles when growing up who were. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. Adapted by the author from his autobiographical memoir, The Lady in the Van tells the story of Miss Mary Shepherd, whom Alan Bennett first came across when she was living in the street near his home in Camden Town. And almost for the first time ever she smiled, and said how they had all been bunched up trying to get into this one carriage, a great crowd, and how she had been hoisted up.

The Lady in the Van: Books - AbeBooks The Lady in the Van: Books - AbeBooks

A recent movie adaptation has cast Maggie Smith as our Lady in the Van and although she does not meet the physical description of this Miss Shepherd, I look forward to seeing her performance! Assuming (hoping, probably) he would have driven off by the time I get outside, I find he’s still there, and ask him what the fuck he thinks he’s doing.

V. Club was critical, stating The Lady in the Van is flawed because the film is "supposed to be revealing Bennett, not Shepherd"; a fact that many "will be reminded of before the film’s end". A hardback volume in Very Good condition, slight tanning to page margins, in a dustjacket with small tear at base spine.