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  • Lady in the Van

  • By: Alan Bennett
  • Narrated by: Alan Bennett
  • Length: 1 hr and 42 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (61 ratings)
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Lady in the Van cover art

Lady in the Van

By: Alan Bennett
Narrated by: Alan Bennett
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Summary

The humorous and moving tale of Miss Shepherd, an eccentric old lady who, by a bizarre series of twists and turns, lived in the author's garden for many years. Alan Bennett reads his own acclaimed work, recently adapted as a West End smash hit starring Maggie Smith as the eccentric old lady.
©2005 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2005 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

What listeners say about Lady in the Van

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Charming

The charm of a by-gone age, and the innate caring of the author, turn this account of an eccentric, selfish, unlovely person into something warm and eminently readable.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • ms
  • 24-09-16

Love Alan Bennett

Where does Lady in the Van rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's a brilliant well narrated story.

What did you like best about this story?

The narration.

What does Alan Bennett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I love Alan Bennetts voice so I'm biased. I could listen to him all the time.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me laugh and feel quite sorry for Miss Shepherd.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lady in the van.

This was fantastic.
Took me back in time to what I cud remember as a gray black and white area.
But this Book added some very needed colour..
So we'll written and performed a joy to listen to...

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

I have always loved Lady in the Van, first as a book, then as audio tapes.
The story itself is wonderful, how many people would have invited this eccentric lady to move her van into their property?
The fact that Alan Bennett himself narrates it adds to the enjoyment. His voice has a rhythm, a cadence of its own and draws one into the life of Mrs Sheppard and his own better than a performance by actors.
I highly recommend this Audible book to anyone who loves Bennett's writings -including his diaries. Whether you have read or heard it before or not, it is such treat. These glimpses of the Lady in the Van's life make one wish we had known her.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

if you like his work you should love this

it's just classic and read by him making it even better. I adore the central character, the lady in the van. she is wonderfully portrayed and their relationship, how she affects him over time is lovely

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

There is nothing at all interesting in this very short story not sure how it got made into a film. lets hope its better than this audibke

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very poor quality speech

Poor quality speech unfortunately
Cannot get the thing to work properly to listen to it. Not very impressed with Audible

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Not for me

I found it quite dull with now real objective to the story.

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