A series of essays from writer Alan Bennett about Mrs Shepherd, an old woman who lived in a van who came to his street and ended up staying for over 15 years - eventually moving into Bennett's driveway. In the essays, Bennett talks about his various interactions with Mrs Shepherd over the years and the little glimpses he finds out about her odd life and how she came to be the lady in the van.

This was enjoyable but I think I liked it more because I had already seen the film. Without the experience of seeing the movie, I don't think I would have really felt the character of Mrs Shepherd and it helped that I had the idea of Maggie Smith as her. In the movie you get a rounder view of how other people reacted to Mrs Shepherd such as the other neighbours and this was missing in the essays.