What helps is Bennett's to the point writing style that builds just enough description with wry social commentary and personal experience. The Lady in the Van tells the mostly true story of Alan Bennett's somewhat strained friendship with Miss Mary Shepherd, an irritable, eccentric, homeless woman whom Bennett befriended in the 1970s, before letting her park her Bedford van in the driveway of his Camden home "for three months". She ended up residing there for 15 years. She reminds me a lot of those annoying characters you get in sitcoms or comedy films-the ones that usually die first-who are hilarious and fun to see because they're not real and you don't have to put up with them. But Bennett did have to put up with her: for fifteen years until her death from the moment she wheeled her van in to his front garden. It is a wonderful tale, but it's not so much a tale as a long, drawn-out anecdote.

Lady in the Van - AbeBooks Lady in the Van - AbeBooks

Christopher Orr (22 January 2016). "Review: In 'The Lady in the Van,' Maggie Smith Dazzles Yet Again". The Atlantic . Retrieved 31 March 2017. As the story develops, Bennett learns Miss Shepherd's true identity: Margaret Fairchild, a gifted former pupil of pianist Alfred Cortot. She had driven an ambulance in WWII, played Chopin at The Proms, attempted to become a nun twice, and was committed to an institution by her brother. She escaped, had an accident when her van was hit by a motorcyclist—for whose death she believed herself to blame—and thereafter lived in fear of arrest.The 'genteel vagrant' [12] Margaret Fairchild died in her van on the driveway at 23 Gloucester Crescent in Camden in 1989 aged 78. [1] After a funeral service in the Catholic church of Our Lady of Hal in Camden Town she was buried in an unmarked grave in St Pancras and Islington Cemetery. [13]

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

Bennett wrote The Lady in the Van based on his experiences with the eccentric woman. Fairchild/Shepherd's story was first published in 1989 as an essay in the London Review of Books. In 1990 Bennett published it in book form. In 1999 he adapted it into a stage play at the Queen's Theatre in London which starred Maggie Smith who received a Best Actress nomination at the 2000 Olivier Awards [15] and which was directed by Nicholas Hytner. The stage play includes two characters named Alan Bennett. On 21 February 2009 it was broadcast as a radio play on BBC Radio 4, with Maggie Smith reprising her role [16] and Alan Bennett playing himself. He adapted the story again for the 2015 film The Lady in the Van with Maggie Smith reprising her role again, and Nicholas Hytner directing again.

Bennett's 1994 postscript also provides some more information about Miss S. and her origins, a useful and revealing addition to the book. His presence -- and his generosity in tolerating her -- no doubt also helped to preserve her from getting completely lost.) Margaret Mary Fairchild (4 January 1911 – 28 April 1989), also known as Mary Teresa Sheppard, Miss Shepherd and M T Sheppard, [1] was a British homeless woman.