Skip to product information
1 of 1

Goldsboro Books

9780571173884

Writing Home

Writing Home

by Alan Bennett

Publisher Faber & Faber

Genre: General Fiction

Released:

  • Signed by the Author
  • UK First Edition
  • First Printing
  • Hardcover


Regular price £90.00
Regular price Sale price £90.00
Sale Sold out
Rendering loop-subscriptions
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Available from:

Limited Edition Copies

View full details

About the book

Writing Home brings together diaries, reminiscences and reviews to give us a unique and unforgettable portrait of one of England's leading playwrights. As a memoir it covers the production of his very first play, Forty Years On, which starred John Gieldgud, as well as many other important productions. His television series 'Talking Heads' has become a modern-day classic; as part of the 1960s revue 'Beyond the Fringe' Bennett helped to kick-start the English satire revolution, and has since remained one of our leading dramatists, most recently with The History Boys at the National Theatre.

At the heart of the book is The Lady in The Van, since adapted into a radio play featuring Dame Maggie Smith. It is the true account of Miss Mary Shepherd, a homeless tramp who took up residence in Bennett's garden and stayed for fifteen years. This new edition also includes Bennett's introduction to his Oscar-nominated screenplay for The Madness of King George and his more recent diaries.

Collapsible content

About the Author

Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett was born in 1934 in Leeds.


He studied at Exeter College, Oxford, then after a period of National Service, became a lecturer for a short time at Oxford University. He co-wrote and starred in Beyond the Fringe (1963), a satirical review, along with Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller, at the Edinburgh Festival in 1960. Later the show travelled to the West End and to New York. After this, he started writing for the stage and, later, for television. To date he has been actor, director and broadcaster, and written for stage, television, radio and film. His work focuses on the everyday and the mundane; on people with typically British characteristics and obsessions.


His first stage play was Forty Years On (1969). Other well-known stage plays include Kafka's Dick (1987), The Wind In The Willows (1991), and The Madness of George III (1992).


His first work for television was a sketch show, On the Margin, and he also wrote the television series Fortunes of War. His first television play was A Day Out, followed by several more television plays, five for the BBC, published as Objects of Affection and Other Plays for TV (1982),and five for London Weekend Television, published as The Writer in Disguise (1985). His two series of monologues for television, Talking Heads I (1988) and Talking Heads 2 (1998), proved Bennett to be the master of television monologue, a genre he had first anticipated in A Woman Of No Importance (1982) - his first play starring a single actress.


Alan Bennett has also written for radio, including The Lady In The Van (1990), an autobiographical memoir of a woman who parked her car in his garden and stayed for 15 years, and films, including A Private Function (1984), Parson's Pleasure, Prick Up Your Ears (1987), and The Madness of King George (1994), for which he was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay adaptation.


Alan Bennett has won many prestigious awards for his writing. His prose collection Writing Home (1994), was followed by a sequel, Untold Stories, in 2005. His play, The History Boys (2004), won the 2004 Evening Standard Award for Best Play of the Year and The Uncommon Reader (2007) is a novella in which the Queen develops a taste for reading.


His most recent play is Hymn / Cocktail Sticks (2018). His 1999 play The Lady in the Van was released as a film in 2015, with Dame Maggie Smith in the lead role.

  • Professionally Packed

    All of our books that have a dust wrapper are covered in clear protective, removable film and are packed professionally in bubble wrap and a box for shipping so that they reach you in perfect condition.

  • Book Condition & Notes

    Slight push in to top and bottom of spine. Wrinkling to dust jacket to match, and slight loss of colour near the top of spine.

  • The October Must-Reads: Bookseller Top Picks

    The October Must-Reads: Bookseller Top Picks

    David Headley

    As the leaves turn and the evenings draw in, there’s nothing quite like settling down with a brilliant new book to escape into.  With so many incredible titles being released...

    David Headley

    The October Must-Reads: Bookseller Top Picks

    As the leaves turn and the evenings draw in, there’s nothing quite like settling down with a brilliant new book to escape into.  With so many incredible titles being released...

  • Glass Bell Winner 2024: Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

    Glass Bell Winner 2024: Clytemnestra by Costanz...

    Rebecca McDonnell

      This evening, Goldsboro Books announced the winner of their seventh Glass Bell Award, Costanza Casati for her evocative Greek retelling, Clytemnestra (Michael Joseph, May 2023).  The Award was presented...

    Rebecca McDonnell

    Glass Bell Winner 2024: Clytemnestra by Costanz...

      This evening, Goldsboro Books announced the winner of their seventh Glass Bell Award, Costanza Casati for her evocative Greek retelling, Clytemnestra (Michael Joseph, May 2023).  The Award was presented...

  • An Interview with David Wragg

    An Interview with David Wragg

    Goldsboro Books

    We recently had the joy of hosting David Wragg as he signed copies of The Company of the Wolf, the sequel to The Hunters in the Tales of the Plains...

    Goldsboro Books

    An Interview with David Wragg

    We recently had the joy of hosting David Wragg as he signed copies of The Company of the Wolf, the sequel to The Hunters in the Tales of the Plains...

  • Goldsboro's Summer Bestseller List: London vs Brighton

    Goldsboro's Summer Bestseller List: London vs B...

    David Headley

    We’re delighted to reveal our summer bestseller lists from our independent bookshops in Brighton and London. This summer has been another incredible season for the book community, highlighting a strong...

    David Headley

    Goldsboro's Summer Bestseller List: London vs B...

    We’re delighted to reveal our summer bestseller lists from our independent bookshops in Brighton and London. This summer has been another incredible season for the book community, highlighting a strong...

1 of 4