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Old Rage
Bloomsbury presents Old Rage written and read by Sheila Hancock.
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER | WITH EXCLUSIVE NEW MATERIAL
'I want to be Sheila Hancock when I grow up' – Lorraine Kelly
'Wise, witty, kind and true' – Sunday Times
'A sparkling memoir as funny and insightful as it’s moving' – Daily Mail
'A captivating memoir' – Mail on Sunday
In 2016, Sheila Hancock sat down to write a book about a serene and fulfilled old age. This is not that book.
In Old Rage, one of Britain’s best-loved actors opens up about her tenth decade. Funny, feisty, honest, she makes for brilliant company as she talks about her life and takes an uncompromising look at a world so different from the one of her wartime childhood. And yet – despite age, despite rage – she finds there are always reasons for joy.
'The much-loved actor candidly shares the fear, joy and frustration she has found in her ninth decade' Guardian, Books of the Year 2022
'Sheila Hancock reflects upon her life and career with all the winning candour and warm-heartedness we have come to expect from the legendary actress' Waterstones
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER | WITH EXCLUSIVE NEW MATERIAL
'I want to be Sheila Hancock when I grow up' – Lorraine Kelly
'Wise, witty, kind and true' – Sunday Times
'A sparkling memoir as funny and insightful as it’s moving' – Daily Mail
'A captivating memoir' – Mail on Sunday
In 2016, Sheila Hancock sat down to write a book about a serene and fulfilled old age. This is not that book.
In Old Rage, one of Britain’s best-loved actors opens up about her tenth decade. Funny, feisty, honest, she makes for brilliant company as she talks about her life and takes an uncompromising look at a world so different from the one of her wartime childhood. And yet – despite age, despite rage – she finds there are always reasons for joy.
'The much-loved actor candidly shares the fear, joy and frustration she has found in her ninth decade' Guardian, Books of the Year 2022
'Sheila Hancock reflects upon her life and career with all the winning candour and warm-heartedness we have come to expect from the legendary actress' Waterstones
Audible Audio
First published September 6, 2022
106 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Hancock
39 books41 followersSheila Hancock is one of Britain's most highly regarded and popular actors, and received an OBE for services to drama in 1974 and a CBE in 2011. Since the 1950s she has enjoyed a career across Film, Television, Theatre and Radio. Her first big television role was in the BBC sitcom The Rag Trade in the early 1960s. She has directed and acted for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.
Following the death of her husband, John Thaw, she wrote a memoir of their marriage, The Two of Us, which was a no. 1 bestseller and won the British Book Award for Author of the Year. Her memoir of her widowhood, Just Me, also a bestseller, was published in 2007. She lives in London and France.
Following the death of her husband, John Thaw, she wrote a memoir of their marriage, The Two of Us, which was a no. 1 bestseller and won the British Book Award for Author of the Year. Her memoir of her widowhood, Just Me, also a bestseller, was published in 2007. She lives in London and France.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
September 28, 2024
‘Old age should burn and rage at close of day.”
I have loved Sheila Hancock in her many guises - in tv drama, on radio comedy shows…for many years..and as the partner of the beloved and wonderful John Thaw.
Old Rage would probably make a better audiobook than a physical book. It is an outpouring…sometimes a rant, sometimes a reminisce, fuelled by emotions and memories..I could hear Sheila’s voice throughout and I would love to hear her actually reading this..
At first I was a little unsettled by the format - it is loose and fluid like a conversation which switches backwards and forwards between dates and ideas. Unconstrained by order, or real structure it flows like thoughts from the mind…which can appear random and sometimes the thread is difficult to grasp. This might be called a memoir but it is more than that..not for nothing is the title, ‘Old Rage.’ Sheila has something to to say…quite a lot in fact.
Views about Brexit, universal education, decent pay for NHS staff…punctuate memories of the author’s life, her family, her life on stage and the actors and mortals she has met along the way. As an older woman who shares so many of the author’s viewpoints this was a sheer delight. For me she talks so much common sense and I would happily rage by her side. What I loved most of all though was the sense of a long life, the witness to events - a world war, and to stars of the stage from long ago…Kenneth More, Kenneth Williams, James Mason..Margaret Lockwood. Reading these names connected me to memories of my own. This is a lady who has seen World War, learned to use Zoom and WhatsApp, acted on stage with the greats and walks the deserted streets of London during the pandemic. And then there is the revelations of a personal life lived through family bereavement, illness and crisis..and her own mortality.
A really lovely, fascinating and human account. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for a digital copy of this book,
I have loved Sheila Hancock in her many guises - in tv drama, on radio comedy shows…for many years..and as the partner of the beloved and wonderful John Thaw.
Old Rage would probably make a better audiobook than a physical book. It is an outpouring…sometimes a rant, sometimes a reminisce, fuelled by emotions and memories..I could hear Sheila’s voice throughout and I would love to hear her actually reading this..
At first I was a little unsettled by the format - it is loose and fluid like a conversation which switches backwards and forwards between dates and ideas. Unconstrained by order, or real structure it flows like thoughts from the mind…which can appear random and sometimes the thread is difficult to grasp. This might be called a memoir but it is more than that..not for nothing is the title, ‘Old Rage.’ Sheila has something to to say…quite a lot in fact.
Views about Brexit, universal education, decent pay for NHS staff…punctuate memories of the author’s life, her family, her life on stage and the actors and mortals she has met along the way. As an older woman who shares so many of the author’s viewpoints this was a sheer delight. For me she talks so much common sense and I would happily rage by her side. What I loved most of all though was the sense of a long life, the witness to events - a world war, and to stars of the stage from long ago…Kenneth More, Kenneth Williams, James Mason..Margaret Lockwood. Reading these names connected me to memories of my own. This is a lady who has seen World War, learned to use Zoom and WhatsApp, acted on stage with the greats and walks the deserted streets of London during the pandemic. And then there is the revelations of a personal life lived through family bereavement, illness and crisis..and her own mortality.
A really lovely, fascinating and human account. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for a digital copy of this book,
October 26, 2025
Sheila Hancock truly drew me alongside her beginning with her description of time spent in Scotland filming while climbing the mountain Suilven:
“Throughout my long life I have had a few experiences that have shaken me to the core of my being transcendental, revelatory. This was one. I did not feel diminished, a tiny human in this vast world; I felt part of it, absorbed, embraced, part of Nature. I felt I belonged to this wild, bleak, magnificent place. My body had lain against the mountain’s cliff face, I’d clung to it with my hands, trusted my feet on its stones, and it had befriended me.”
Then, literally, hours before reading Sheila’s words, I'd had a conversation with a friend of a similar age as Sheila who told me of her childhood pastime of looking for shrapnel on local bombsites, so imagine my astonishment when I read that: “As a child whose playground was bombsites, [Sheila] was more thrilled by collecting shrapnel, machine-gun bullets, shells and bomb fragments than posies of wildflowers.” Next time I saw our friend I read this passage out loud to her much to her enjoyment.
Sheila spoke out about her desire to remain in the European Union prior to the Brexit vote. She writes, “I am fairly certain my dad, like me, would have rejoiced to see a united Europe based on liberal principles.”
“Surely it’s only by working together that we can resolve the huge problems of inequality and poverty, the mass movement of populations […] with commitment and will, we could’ve made something wonderful.”
As Brexit is now in our rear mirror what we’re seeing is a country further divided. Sheila writes that “Many of the liberal values we fought for are now ridiculed, kindness and respect for minorities has become ‘political correctness gone mad,’ and racism and anti-Semitism are on the rise.” I agree with her and it's truly chilling.
I loved her reminiscence on the making do and mending of clothing. I have a treasured darning ‘mushroom’ and I use it too! When Sheila couldn’t afford to buy a ‘sloppy joe sweater’ that were in fashion at the time due to her meager income as a student at RADA her “Mum’s trusty knitting needles did the job and [Sheila] still, to this day relish[es] its baggy warm embrace.”
Sheila writes “My evolution into a proud European took time.” When her husband John Thaw died in 2002 they had lived in Provence, France for twenty-five years. Their home has a rural setting “surrounded by lavender and cherry orchards.” She thought about selling up in her grief at John’s death; however, she found that she needed the “uncomplicated empathy of her French neighbours.”
Sheila confesses to being “slightly obsessive about beds.” She also writes: “in theatrical digs, I have shared beds with fleas, bedbugs and the occasional cockroach.”
About aging, Sheila writes, “I opened a wing of an old people’s home where ancient folk were mumbling to themselves, shuffling around on Zimmers, and the matron told me they were excited about my visit because ‘You’re their generation, aren’t you?’”
What she says about aging as a parent resonated with me: “I’m not sure when the role of mother changes from being in control to taking a back seat. As a self-reliant, proactive person, it is not a situation I relish. It coincides with being ignored by waiters and bartenders, and not being expected to join the cast and crew for a drink after a day’s shooting.”
Final thought on aging: “One of the hardest things as you get older is admitting defeat.”
Sheila writes of her daughter’s battle with breast cancer, losing Billie, and being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and says, “The strong can recover from the wounds of life, but some never find the way to heal.” I found her to be truly empathetic of others.
She wonderfully describes Queen Elizabeth II as, “A frumpy, tiny, stalwart figure that fills me with love. A good woman.” She adds, “I will feel less safe when she goes.” Me too.
About the then, Prince Charles: “I find him to be surprisingly knowledgeable about his less privileged subjects, and he has done many imaginative things to help them. He is well informed and, like his mother, utterly dedicated to his job. He can also be self-deprecating and very funny.”
About preparing for eventual death, “I am erasing my human animal tracks.” By this she means disposing of “diaries and letters,” and other possessions, “and refusing any more gifts,” so that there is less to take care of after her death. It’s truly hard to refuse any more gifts – I try but I don’t want to hurt people’s feeling or appear to be a grumpy old woman!
When Sheila was trying to explain the class system to her grandchildren, she said that “The working class obey orders, often to their cost, and the upper class do what they choose.”
She added, “The upper class know they can get away with a certain moral laxity, legal tax-dodging, that sort of thing, whereas the working class know that if they do not sign on for their benefit at the right time they won’t get the money, and if they are caught shoplifting they will be sent to prison, rather than for a course of psychotherapy. The upper class are confident they are right.”
In 2008, Sheila wrote about “the horror of reality television.” She thought the programme Donald Trump hosted was ‘sickening’ and that “This nasty, tacky man, with his silly blow-dried hair and slack mouth, was being treated like a god.” She was “very angry with the nasty Mr Trump, and all the trashy new values foisted upon us.”
She added that “our moral compass has gone awry. We seem to be choosing personalities, celebrities, madmen to lead us.” So true, yet I still have hope.
Sheila asks, “Why do they [my countrymen] continually trumpet a pride in being an island race that stood alone’?” and answers, “Actually, we didn’t. We had a lot of help.” However, “We are stuck in some mythical past.”
She goes on to write, “I believe our political system is redundant. It is out of date and has failed us. I no longer trust it to function on behalf of everyone.”
I was interested in what Sheila had to say about how Covid was dealt with in the UK, as I was living in the US at the time. She wrote particularly about the isolation during Covid especially for the elderly and she had been labelled as extremely vulnerable.
“One of the awful sadnesses is the way the virus has forced us to deal with death.” Instead of dying with your loved ones around you feeling their warm embrace, people die in isolation except for nurses covered from top to toe in PPE. “The ultimate cruelty.”
The British government came up with slogans for Covid such as, “Stay at home; protect the NHS.” However, this made Sheila feel wary as:
“Hitler recommended in Mein Kampf that short slogans should be used to appeal to ‘the primitive sentiments of the broad masses…These slogans should be repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp with the idea that is being put forward.’ One of his favourites was ‘Germany first.’” This put me very much in mind of Trump’s 'America first.'
I loved her thoughtful excursion into rules and rule breaking. She asks questions such as, ‘Is the pandemic making us too compliant?’ She adds that “For mankind to survive there have to be laws and rules, but these must be constantly tested and challenged and improved upon.”
Peaceful protesting, questioning – asking the ‘Why’ questions, not just following the herd. These actions “could lead to anarchy, but without it you have slavery and stasis.”
I like what she says about ‘closure’ and our current obsession with it. She is baffled as she doesn’t believe that there is such a thing as closure. Instead, she believes “It is the ongoing adventure of living that nothing is irrevocably ended.”
On a trip to London with her granddaughter Lola, they walk around Parliament Square in London and come across several statues, the one that excites them most is of Millicent Fawcett – a suffragist, who Sheila describes as “quietly campaigning persistently, at the same time supporting her blind husband in his liberal political endeavours.”
“Dogged Millicent Fawcett spent her whole life fighting in campaigns for many causes – against child abuse and the appalling concentration camps for families of the Boers, and in favour of higher education for women and fair treatment of prostitutes.” I feel I must read more about this remarkable woman.
In January 2021, Sheila was deluged with fan mail and letters of congratulations upon the announcement of her DBE award (Dame of the British Empire). She writes that, “It was like reading one’s own obituary but doubtless a lot more loving than the real one will be.”
I found the description of the Van Gogh painting she has on the walls of her house in France very moving. It’s of a dark tangle of trees with a tiny odd-looking couple facing “deep in colourful, burgeoning undergrowth with no route through it.” She quotes John Thaw as saying, ‘That definitely is us. Lost in the woods but it is still beautiful, kid,’ on their last visit to France together.
About education: “My granddaughter has been involved in writing letters to schools, requesting them to change the curriculum into something more accurate. Great Britain has a proud history in many ways, and no harm will come to it by facing the bad bits."
She adds that she "was impressed, when [she] went to Berlin to see so many schoolchildren being taken round the Holocaust Memorial and other museums illustrating their country’s Nazi past.” I was impressed by these things also when I visited Berlin, so this too, resonated with me.
Sheila’s grandson Jack is a teacher. They talk about the current state of education. “The pandemic has revealed to the public the huge divisions and injustice in our education system.” Sheila’s ideal is stated above a teacher’s portrait at Eton. It states: “The excellence of a teacher is to identify differences in talent.”
Sheila writes that “All children are gifted in some way and should have their particular skills recognized and valued.”
She believes all children “should receive an Eton-standard education in their very skilled jobs, as well as the lifestyle delights like art, music and sport to give quality to their lives.”
Rather than money, fame, or even her damehood, Sheila thinks the most important thing in life is to have “passed on something that will contribute to the future.”
I loved how she ended her book by writing: “Never has there been more need for each and every one of us to take off our gloves, and reach out to support each other, to make sure that ‘what will survive of us is love.’”
“Love of all the creatures, the brilliance, the beauty, the overwhelming magnificence of this well-worth-saving planet on which I have been privileged to exist for eighty-eight years.”
“Throughout my long life I have had a few experiences that have shaken me to the core of my being transcendental, revelatory. This was one. I did not feel diminished, a tiny human in this vast world; I felt part of it, absorbed, embraced, part of Nature. I felt I belonged to this wild, bleak, magnificent place. My body had lain against the mountain’s cliff face, I’d clung to it with my hands, trusted my feet on its stones, and it had befriended me.”
Then, literally, hours before reading Sheila’s words, I'd had a conversation with a friend of a similar age as Sheila who told me of her childhood pastime of looking for shrapnel on local bombsites, so imagine my astonishment when I read that: “As a child whose playground was bombsites, [Sheila] was more thrilled by collecting shrapnel, machine-gun bullets, shells and bomb fragments than posies of wildflowers.” Next time I saw our friend I read this passage out loud to her much to her enjoyment.
Sheila spoke out about her desire to remain in the European Union prior to the Brexit vote. She writes, “I am fairly certain my dad, like me, would have rejoiced to see a united Europe based on liberal principles.”
“Surely it’s only by working together that we can resolve the huge problems of inequality and poverty, the mass movement of populations […] with commitment and will, we could’ve made something wonderful.”
As Brexit is now in our rear mirror what we’re seeing is a country further divided. Sheila writes that “Many of the liberal values we fought for are now ridiculed, kindness and respect for minorities has become ‘political correctness gone mad,’ and racism and anti-Semitism are on the rise.” I agree with her and it's truly chilling.
I loved her reminiscence on the making do and mending of clothing. I have a treasured darning ‘mushroom’ and I use it too! When Sheila couldn’t afford to buy a ‘sloppy joe sweater’ that were in fashion at the time due to her meager income as a student at RADA her “Mum’s trusty knitting needles did the job and [Sheila] still, to this day relish[es] its baggy warm embrace.”
Sheila writes “My evolution into a proud European took time.” When her husband John Thaw died in 2002 they had lived in Provence, France for twenty-five years. Their home has a rural setting “surrounded by lavender and cherry orchards.” She thought about selling up in her grief at John’s death; however, she found that she needed the “uncomplicated empathy of her French neighbours.”
Sheila confesses to being “slightly obsessive about beds.” She also writes: “in theatrical digs, I have shared beds with fleas, bedbugs and the occasional cockroach.”
About aging, Sheila writes, “I opened a wing of an old people’s home where ancient folk were mumbling to themselves, shuffling around on Zimmers, and the matron told me they were excited about my visit because ‘You’re their generation, aren’t you?’”
What she says about aging as a parent resonated with me: “I’m not sure when the role of mother changes from being in control to taking a back seat. As a self-reliant, proactive person, it is not a situation I relish. It coincides with being ignored by waiters and bartenders, and not being expected to join the cast and crew for a drink after a day’s shooting.”
Final thought on aging: “One of the hardest things as you get older is admitting defeat.”
Sheila writes of her daughter’s battle with breast cancer, losing Billie, and being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and says, “The strong can recover from the wounds of life, but some never find the way to heal.” I found her to be truly empathetic of others.
She wonderfully describes Queen Elizabeth II as, “A frumpy, tiny, stalwart figure that fills me with love. A good woman.” She adds, “I will feel less safe when she goes.” Me too.
About the then, Prince Charles: “I find him to be surprisingly knowledgeable about his less privileged subjects, and he has done many imaginative things to help them. He is well informed and, like his mother, utterly dedicated to his job. He can also be self-deprecating and very funny.”
About preparing for eventual death, “I am erasing my human animal tracks.” By this she means disposing of “diaries and letters,” and other possessions, “and refusing any more gifts,” so that there is less to take care of after her death. It’s truly hard to refuse any more gifts – I try but I don’t want to hurt people’s feeling or appear to be a grumpy old woman!
When Sheila was trying to explain the class system to her grandchildren, she said that “The working class obey orders, often to their cost, and the upper class do what they choose.”
She added, “The upper class know they can get away with a certain moral laxity, legal tax-dodging, that sort of thing, whereas the working class know that if they do not sign on for their benefit at the right time they won’t get the money, and if they are caught shoplifting they will be sent to prison, rather than for a course of psychotherapy. The upper class are confident they are right.”
In 2008, Sheila wrote about “the horror of reality television.” She thought the programme Donald Trump hosted was ‘sickening’ and that “This nasty, tacky man, with his silly blow-dried hair and slack mouth, was being treated like a god.” She was “very angry with the nasty Mr Trump, and all the trashy new values foisted upon us.”
She added that “our moral compass has gone awry. We seem to be choosing personalities, celebrities, madmen to lead us.” So true, yet I still have hope.
Sheila asks, “Why do they [my countrymen] continually trumpet a pride in being an island race that stood alone’?” and answers, “Actually, we didn’t. We had a lot of help.” However, “We are stuck in some mythical past.”
She goes on to write, “I believe our political system is redundant. It is out of date and has failed us. I no longer trust it to function on behalf of everyone.”
I was interested in what Sheila had to say about how Covid was dealt with in the UK, as I was living in the US at the time. She wrote particularly about the isolation during Covid especially for the elderly and she had been labelled as extremely vulnerable.
“One of the awful sadnesses is the way the virus has forced us to deal with death.” Instead of dying with your loved ones around you feeling their warm embrace, people die in isolation except for nurses covered from top to toe in PPE. “The ultimate cruelty.”
The British government came up with slogans for Covid such as, “Stay at home; protect the NHS.” However, this made Sheila feel wary as:
“Hitler recommended in Mein Kampf that short slogans should be used to appeal to ‘the primitive sentiments of the broad masses…These slogans should be repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp with the idea that is being put forward.’ One of his favourites was ‘Germany first.’” This put me very much in mind of Trump’s 'America first.'
I loved her thoughtful excursion into rules and rule breaking. She asks questions such as, ‘Is the pandemic making us too compliant?’ She adds that “For mankind to survive there have to be laws and rules, but these must be constantly tested and challenged and improved upon.”
Peaceful protesting, questioning – asking the ‘Why’ questions, not just following the herd. These actions “could lead to anarchy, but without it you have slavery and stasis.”
I like what she says about ‘closure’ and our current obsession with it. She is baffled as she doesn’t believe that there is such a thing as closure. Instead, she believes “It is the ongoing adventure of living that nothing is irrevocably ended.”
On a trip to London with her granddaughter Lola, they walk around Parliament Square in London and come across several statues, the one that excites them most is of Millicent Fawcett – a suffragist, who Sheila describes as “quietly campaigning persistently, at the same time supporting her blind husband in his liberal political endeavours.”
“Dogged Millicent Fawcett spent her whole life fighting in campaigns for many causes – against child abuse and the appalling concentration camps for families of the Boers, and in favour of higher education for women and fair treatment of prostitutes.” I feel I must read more about this remarkable woman.
In January 2021, Sheila was deluged with fan mail and letters of congratulations upon the announcement of her DBE award (Dame of the British Empire). She writes that, “It was like reading one’s own obituary but doubtless a lot more loving than the real one will be.”
I found the description of the Van Gogh painting she has on the walls of her house in France very moving. It’s of a dark tangle of trees with a tiny odd-looking couple facing “deep in colourful, burgeoning undergrowth with no route through it.” She quotes John Thaw as saying, ‘That definitely is us. Lost in the woods but it is still beautiful, kid,’ on their last visit to France together.
About education: “My granddaughter has been involved in writing letters to schools, requesting them to change the curriculum into something more accurate. Great Britain has a proud history in many ways, and no harm will come to it by facing the bad bits."
She adds that she "was impressed, when [she] went to Berlin to see so many schoolchildren being taken round the Holocaust Memorial and other museums illustrating their country’s Nazi past.” I was impressed by these things also when I visited Berlin, so this too, resonated with me.
Sheila’s grandson Jack is a teacher. They talk about the current state of education. “The pandemic has revealed to the public the huge divisions and injustice in our education system.” Sheila’s ideal is stated above a teacher’s portrait at Eton. It states: “The excellence of a teacher is to identify differences in talent.”
Sheila writes that “All children are gifted in some way and should have their particular skills recognized and valued.”
She believes all children “should receive an Eton-standard education in their very skilled jobs, as well as the lifestyle delights like art, music and sport to give quality to their lives.”
Rather than money, fame, or even her damehood, Sheila thinks the most important thing in life is to have “passed on something that will contribute to the future.”
I loved how she ended her book by writing: “Never has there been more need for each and every one of us to take off our gloves, and reach out to support each other, to make sure that ‘what will survive of us is love.’”
“Love of all the creatures, the brilliance, the beauty, the overwhelming magnificence of this well-worth-saving planet on which I have been privileged to exist for eighty-eight years.”
June 3, 2022
I adore Sheila Hancock - and this was a book I was super excited to read! However, it turns out I was super disappointed!
This book was slow, and flat. I didn't get any of the humour that Hancock usually has when being interviewed or in her previous books.
I didn't like how it was written in a diary style, it just felt ploddy. "And then I did this, and then I did that"type of thing.
Really gutted!
Didn't like this at all.
This book was slow, and flat. I didn't get any of the humour that Hancock usually has when being interviewed or in her previous books.
I didn't like how it was written in a diary style, it just felt ploddy. "And then I did this, and then I did that"type of thing.
Really gutted!
Didn't like this at all.
September 26, 2022
The content of this book lives up to the clever title and I enjoyed every chapter. Sheila Hancock is full of mature age rage and rants against the system, writing on a wide range of subjects. Shining beacons of hope include equality, unity, kindness, the arts, and the theatre. Sheila certainly has some tales to tell in that regard. However, her enquiring mind never ceases to scrutinise the after-effects of Covid-19 and Brexit while politics tops the list with shoddy government, weak politicians, inept prime ministers, poor decision making, and lack of support for the education system. Her family life and career are mentioned, although perhaps not too deeply. Sheila survived sketchy schooling and WWII to write books and perform in hundreds of stage shows, appearing in diverse roles on film and television over a long illustrious career. She has suffered loss and sadness, and currently has rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, but doesn't stop her maintaining a firm grip on life and learning.
I think readers who have retired will get the full impact of this book. Aged 83, Sheila climbed Suilven, a mountain in the Scottish highlands, portraying the character of Edie, a stubborn woman with a long-held desire to climb the mountain. I watched a film clip on YouTube and was in awe of Sheila's determination which she talks about in the book. She's had many struggles but doesn't let that stall her upward trajectory or inquisitive nature. Some topics I didn't know, like her late husband actor John Thaw, her daughters, her bolt-hole home in France, and many luvvie friends (her words) mentioned in lively anecdotes. Published before the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and crowning of King Charles III, I wondered if she will follow up on the future of British royal monarchs. At age 88 Sheila felt an immense sense of duty after she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2021 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity. No resting on one's laurels for Sheila Hancock!
I think readers who have retired will get the full impact of this book. Aged 83, Sheila climbed Suilven, a mountain in the Scottish highlands, portraying the character of Edie, a stubborn woman with a long-held desire to climb the mountain. I watched a film clip on YouTube and was in awe of Sheila's determination which she talks about in the book. She's had many struggles but doesn't let that stall her upward trajectory or inquisitive nature. Some topics I didn't know, like her late husband actor John Thaw, her daughters, her bolt-hole home in France, and many luvvie friends (her words) mentioned in lively anecdotes. Published before the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and crowning of King Charles III, I wondered if she will follow up on the future of British royal monarchs. At age 88 Sheila felt an immense sense of duty after she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2021 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity. No resting on one's laurels for Sheila Hancock!
May 19, 2024
I just loved this book by Sheila Hancock. Not for nothing is it called Old Rage - she's raging about so many things, Brexit, Covid, the behaviour of PM and his cronies during the pansemic. I found myself agreeing with everything she said! She covers so many topics,her childhood,her varied career, her marriage to John Thaw, her family, her lovely home in France. It made me laugh and at times is so very poignant - when she speaks of her beliefs, and her struggles with her health. What a life, what a woman!
November 9, 2022
A bit of a rant (as the title would suggest), but I agree with almost everything she says.
A sensible voice on recent events; I listened to this one and it was narrated by the author - I love SH.
A sensible voice on recent events; I listened to this one and it was narrated by the author - I love SH.
October 25, 2022
I know the title of the book is Old Rage but Sheila Hancock really is angry! I had assumed (and wondered if I was seeing it in myself) that as we get older we get less wound up by things. Perhaps that true but that we pick our battles. Sheila Hancock definitely isn't letting things pass her by if they frustrate her or, as a country, we haven't learnt from previous experiences. She remembers the war, she has direct memory of how people behaved and cause that we, as a human condition, caused one another and how long it took to rebuild bridges. Brexit. Boris. Trump. The author is not at all happy. And then we join her through COVID; what it was like being told that you are extremely vulnerable and then being forced to live in isolation. I really enjoyed the book but found it really quite angry and sometimes found that hard to merge with Sheila Hancock's Quaker faith but then I guess I learnt something there too - being a pacifist most definitely doesn't mean you're a walk over.
June 21, 2022
This is a book that will just have you Laugh out loud!!!! Old Rage by Sheila Hancock was a funny and excellent book and still looking great at OMG 89 years old and still got her wits about her. This book is not for everyone as Shelia says things out loud what she is thinking! and has no problems in saying what she thinks! Then again I wouldn't if I was her age! Well done to her. She has achieved so much in her life. Hats off to her.
I Loved Old Rage and all of your books she has written and read them all!
I highly recommend this book and a great insight if we ever reach this age!
Big Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for a digital copy of this book this book was a real treat and I loved it.
I Loved Old Rage and all of your books she has written and read them all!
I highly recommend this book and a great insight if we ever reach this age!
Big Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for a digital copy of this book this book was a real treat and I loved it.
June 22, 2023
There were a few parts that made me think and consider my own views. Sheila Hancock has a warmth to her and I enjoyed hearing her speak recently. However I have to admit that I got rather bored towards the end of the book and skipped quite a bit as I'd had enough of it really. Don't regret reading it but won't pick it up again.
September 8, 2023
This book was recommended to me - what's that saying about me ? :) There was much to admire about the diary style reflections of Sheila in her 80s eg rants about Brexit and the impact of Covid. However, I didn't enjoy the ramblings about famous people that I don't know and repetitive references to her war upbringing. Could have used a good edit.
January 4, 2025
Lazy writing, basically extracts from her diary. She has some forthright views on many things, but to me it sounded like preaching she knows best. I was really looking forward to reading this as reviews of her previous books were good. Think this was one book too many.
February 8, 2023
Quite a rant. It's not that I disagree with what she says but it is a relentless read.
February 15, 2024
Loving the audio of this book
December 20, 2022
It is full and of rage, but an excellent read. So glad I went to hear her speak at Falmouth this year.
August 2, 2023
A personal account from 2016 to 2021 takes the author from the age of 83 to 88 and in particular highlights the impact of the pandemic lockdowns and other restrictions on a clinically vulnerable elderly person. Loneliness and lack of connection with her daughters are very telling.
January 6, 2024
Love Sheila Hancock!
May 9, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I am a fan of Sheila’s work, and the work of her late husband John Thaw, and she’s always been a presence on British screens, so I was excited to read this. She doesn’t shy away from telling her own opinions and that’s missing in todays world when everyone is so scared of saying the wrong thing.
I realised that maybe I wasn’t as much of a wordsmith as I thought I was, as she uses a lot of words that I didn’t understand and had to look up, so prepare yourself for feeling like an English language novice.
She has been very honest in this book and it’s not always easy to read.
In my opinion, I did feel there was too much ranting about politics and Brexit for my taste, but it’s clearly a passionate topic for her. I would have preferred more about her as a person and her life and career, but maybe she’s done that in her previous books. It’s very much a rambling, like we’re being invited into her world for a chat.
If I’m being honest, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I was a little disappointed overall, but there were some interesting passages and it definitely gives you a feel for the changes in the industry and in the world.
I am a fan of Sheila’s work, and the work of her late husband John Thaw, and she’s always been a presence on British screens, so I was excited to read this. She doesn’t shy away from telling her own opinions and that’s missing in todays world when everyone is so scared of saying the wrong thing.
I realised that maybe I wasn’t as much of a wordsmith as I thought I was, as she uses a lot of words that I didn’t understand and had to look up, so prepare yourself for feeling like an English language novice.
She has been very honest in this book and it’s not always easy to read.
In my opinion, I did feel there was too much ranting about politics and Brexit for my taste, but it’s clearly a passionate topic for her. I would have preferred more about her as a person and her life and career, but maybe she’s done that in her previous books. It’s very much a rambling, like we’re being invited into her world for a chat.
If I’m being honest, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I was a little disappointed overall, but there were some interesting passages and it definitely gives you a feel for the changes in the industry and in the world.
June 8, 2023
Was a push to finish this “memoir”. As a Quaker one might expect a less judgmental and more forgiving soul than Shelia Hancock portrays herself to be. Whilst I’m sure she’s a very nice lady to be commended for her many and varied accomplishments including mountain climbing aged 83, raising 3 daughters whilst maintaining a career and a marriage to an alcoholic but the incessant opinionated ranting and disparaging remarks about public figures she doesn’t approve of or like is tiresome. Readers don’t care or want to know her opinion of these people. Outspoken old ladies gives elderly women a bad reputation and epitomises growing old disgracefully.
July 16, 2022
I much enjoyed two of her previous autobiographies, Just The Two of Us & Just Me, So looked forward to reading the latest one. Sadly rather than it being entitled Old Rage I think Old Rant Would be more appropriate.
September 22, 2022
Not for me I'm afraid. I know others have really liked it but I found it all a bit pointless really. Didn't find her either angry or particularly funny.
January 9, 2025
Tedious
June 27, 2025
I thought this was a revelation. It’s full of fury, but it’s significant fury.
February 2, 2023
OLD RAGE by Sheila Hancock
I confess I’ve not read any of her three previous efforts but, after digesting this diarised account of her latter years, I can certainly handle a bigger dose of Sheila.
Loveable and forthright character that she is, Sheila lays it on the line and it’s all from the heart, which is why her prose is passionate and interesting. The fact that I agree with her sentiments adds to my pleasure here.
It all kicks off with an insight into her recent film “Edie”, where an old lady, her husband having passed away recently, decided to go and climb Suilven. Sheila initially thought she wouldn’t actually have to climb it. She was mistaken but, in the end, admits it was one of the highlights of her life.
Her career is full of interest and I can’t recall a dull page where nothing happened. Her toing and froing to France where she has a residence in a remote village was also illuminating. How “Brexit”, something she loathed, affected that scenario and its impact generally is emotionally covered. It’s a wonderful insight into what went on in the London area.
Ever dipping into her lengthy career is another frequent thing in this book. Names familiar and less familiar all get mentions into how their paths crossed and the impact those others have had on the arts.
Sheila has also been made a dame (a proper one), an accolade she took in her stride while reflecting on the type of society that created such things, which leads me to mention that her political views are expanded upon here. Let’s just say that Boris Johnson and some of his cronies, along with Trump, were not, and never will be, on her Christmas card list.
That she is a caring human being with an innate sense of fair play there can be no doubt. That there aren’t more like her in the world is sad.
You can read this book in a couple of days, or soak it up gently over a month or so, as I did. Either way, I’m sure you’ll find it thoroughly enjoying.
I confess I’ve not read any of her three previous efforts but, after digesting this diarised account of her latter years, I can certainly handle a bigger dose of Sheila.
Loveable and forthright character that she is, Sheila lays it on the line and it’s all from the heart, which is why her prose is passionate and interesting. The fact that I agree with her sentiments adds to my pleasure here.
It all kicks off with an insight into her recent film “Edie”, where an old lady, her husband having passed away recently, decided to go and climb Suilven. Sheila initially thought she wouldn’t actually have to climb it. She was mistaken but, in the end, admits it was one of the highlights of her life.
Her career is full of interest and I can’t recall a dull page where nothing happened. Her toing and froing to France where she has a residence in a remote village was also illuminating. How “Brexit”, something she loathed, affected that scenario and its impact generally is emotionally covered. It’s a wonderful insight into what went on in the London area.
Ever dipping into her lengthy career is another frequent thing in this book. Names familiar and less familiar all get mentions into how their paths crossed and the impact those others have had on the arts.
Sheila has also been made a dame (a proper one), an accolade she took in her stride while reflecting on the type of society that created such things, which leads me to mention that her political views are expanded upon here. Let’s just say that Boris Johnson and some of his cronies, along with Trump, were not, and never will be, on her Christmas card list.
That she is a caring human being with an innate sense of fair play there can be no doubt. That there aren’t more like her in the world is sad.
You can read this book in a couple of days, or soak it up gently over a month or so, as I did. Either way, I’m sure you’ll find it thoroughly enjoying.
August 16, 2025
This is so much more than another celebrity’s biographical memoirs.
I found that this book combined the “lead by the light” testimonies amongst friends gatherings for silent worship, philosophical matters that lead to inner questioning and evaluation, a voice to what has been mere ghosts and intangible feelings within oneself, a confrontation and interrogation to one’s opinions, beliefs and morals, a gentle and easy book to enjoy over many hours, a guidebook to another world, not glitzy parties, Botox and shallow and vainglorious it girls, cads and the pathetic existence of those in entertainment, but of an older person, an actress of a different era, from which had a different methodology of entertaining and standards and the war she battles on in defiance to all the ageist, sexist, and the unethical breakdown of society, and the insight of a women, a mother, a wife, a worker, an activist and a doer in ordinary yet commonly experienced situations, experiences and occasions.
Yes, there was sentiments that I didn’t agree with and material that’s slightly erroneous such as Bach being gay and in love with Britten of two different centuries and beyond human life span to have happened or narrow minded, such as brexit, and not seeing and understanding how arbitrary, suffocating and controlling the E.U is for all countries and there people and foreign national who unlike pre E.U were not invading and draining counties resources for personal gain without the reasons for relocation and integrating into the adopted countries.
This book is a must read, even to such a degree it should be included in literature, philosophy and social science courses at colleges and universities
I found that this book combined the “lead by the light” testimonies amongst friends gatherings for silent worship, philosophical matters that lead to inner questioning and evaluation, a voice to what has been mere ghosts and intangible feelings within oneself, a confrontation and interrogation to one’s opinions, beliefs and morals, a gentle and easy book to enjoy over many hours, a guidebook to another world, not glitzy parties, Botox and shallow and vainglorious it girls, cads and the pathetic existence of those in entertainment, but of an older person, an actress of a different era, from which had a different methodology of entertaining and standards and the war she battles on in defiance to all the ageist, sexist, and the unethical breakdown of society, and the insight of a women, a mother, a wife, a worker, an activist and a doer in ordinary yet commonly experienced situations, experiences and occasions.
Yes, there was sentiments that I didn’t agree with and material that’s slightly erroneous such as Bach being gay and in love with Britten of two different centuries and beyond human life span to have happened or narrow minded, such as brexit, and not seeing and understanding how arbitrary, suffocating and controlling the E.U is for all countries and there people and foreign national who unlike pre E.U were not invading and draining counties resources for personal gain without the reasons for relocation and integrating into the adopted countries.
This book is a must read, even to such a degree it should be included in literature, philosophy and social science courses at colleges and universities
August 31, 2022
Sheila Hancock is one of my favourite actresses. This book however is like a diary, where Sheila has mixed what has happened within that year and flips back to her past younger years of what happened.
In December 2017 in the Diary entry Sheila’s Aunt Billie had been moved into a hospital and was apparently fading fast. Billie had fought hard to stay in her flat after her fall.
As Billie was in a ward of her own Sheila sat with Billie day and night singing to her and saying a childhood prayer to her, one that I truly loved, that was one my favourite parts in the book for loving the prayer.
Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me,
Bless thy little lamb tonight.
Through the darkness be thou near me,
Keep me safe til morning light.
All this day thy hand hast led me,
And I thank thee for thy care.
Thou hast warmed and clothed and fed me,
Listen to my evening prayer. Let my sins be all forgiven,
Bless the friends I love so well.
Take me when I die to heaven,
Happy there with thee to dwell.
When Sheila went to the hospital the next day her ninety three Aunt Billie quietly had let go of her grasp on 18th December. Sheila remembered she had spent the most happiest days of her childhood in her Auntie Bill and Uncle Roy’s minuscule flat on the Rue d’Amsterdam.
This is a lovely read in that is written like a diary.
In December 2017 in the Diary entry Sheila’s Aunt Billie had been moved into a hospital and was apparently fading fast. Billie had fought hard to stay in her flat after her fall.
As Billie was in a ward of her own Sheila sat with Billie day and night singing to her and saying a childhood prayer to her, one that I truly loved, that was one my favourite parts in the book for loving the prayer.
Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me,
Bless thy little lamb tonight.
Through the darkness be thou near me,
Keep me safe til morning light.
All this day thy hand hast led me,
And I thank thee for thy care.
Thou hast warmed and clothed and fed me,
Listen to my evening prayer. Let my sins be all forgiven,
Bless the friends I love so well.
Take me when I die to heaven,
Happy there with thee to dwell.
When Sheila went to the hospital the next day her ninety three Aunt Billie quietly had let go of her grasp on 18th December. Sheila remembered she had spent the most happiest days of her childhood in her Auntie Bill and Uncle Roy’s minuscule flat on the Rue d’Amsterdam.
This is a lovely read in that is written like a diary.
August 26, 2022
Old Rage by Sheila Hancock is a funny, poignant and feisty memoir of the actress, who is now approaching her nineties. Having lived through bereavement and been born and remembers the Second World War, she now finds herself lonely at times and her body is finally not doing that well now.
She is irreverent and funny when she refers to politicians and entertaining when she looks back at different actors that she has worked with over the years.
She is kind and doesn’t have a bad word when speaking of people she knows and has met over the years.
Her loneliness throughout lockdown and her vivid descriptions of watching nature from her verandah and later from her walks are all what other people who were classed as ‘extremely vulnerable’ and those who live on their own, can all relate to.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and laughed out loud at her references to various politicians.
Highly recommended
She is irreverent and funny when she refers to politicians and entertaining when she looks back at different actors that she has worked with over the years.
She is kind and doesn’t have a bad word when speaking of people she knows and has met over the years.
Her loneliness throughout lockdown and her vivid descriptions of watching nature from her verandah and later from her walks are all what other people who were classed as ‘extremely vulnerable’ and those who live on their own, can all relate to.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and laughed out loud at her references to various politicians.
Highly recommended
October 14, 2022
Absolutely brilliant book and certainly reflects many of the feelings I and my friends felt (and are still feeling) during Covid and even now. I love Sheila's writing as she has such a command of language and seems to find exactly the right way to describe the awful things that happened, the stupid things our so-called leaders actually said to us and how, in general, people are usually good to each other in dire circumstances. We are, after all, a very resilient people.
This tale is happy and sad in parts - just like life, and made me smile and also cringe in places - and it also made me think a bit more about how I behaved during our "lockdown" phases.
I was both gratified and uplifted to read this book - did it in four days and sincerely hope Sheila does get to write another one.
This tale is happy and sad in parts - just like life, and made me smile and also cringe in places - and it also made me think a bit more about how I behaved during our "lockdown" phases.
I was both gratified and uplifted to read this book - did it in four days and sincerely hope Sheila does get to write another one.
March 22, 2022
In her latest book, the grand dame of British acting, Sheila Hancock, takes vicious yet educated swipes at Brexit, bereavement, British television and the state of the nation compared to her wartime childhood.
Written during lockdown, “Old Rage” was born out of this extended time of isolation, giving Sheila time to reflect on her acting career, her family and her strongly-held beliefs; many of which might surprise or even offend some readers, but Sheila Hancock tells it like it is.
“Old Rage” is in no way a metaphorical title: this is a brutally honest and fiercely funny book by a lady who has pretty much seen it all, and may yet have some life left in her. It is unapologetic, irrepressible and a must-read.
Written during lockdown, “Old Rage” was born out of this extended time of isolation, giving Sheila time to reflect on her acting career, her family and her strongly-held beliefs; many of which might surprise or even offend some readers, but Sheila Hancock tells it like it is.
“Old Rage” is in no way a metaphorical title: this is a brutally honest and fiercely funny book by a lady who has pretty much seen it all, and may yet have some life left in her. It is unapologetic, irrepressible and a must-read.
December 31, 2022
catch-up
As one of many who found cathartic comfort in Sheila’s book Just the Two of Us, this is another incredibly honest and heartfelt read. The world has changed (and still is changing!) so rapidly over the last few decade but Sheila’s “Old Rage” is a steadfastly honest piece of writing. She covers everything in old age from the loneliness and aches and pains to rage at the body that once did so much but now can’t, and the strange society that we’re all making our way through. She writes so fantastically about the joint rage against and love of humanity that’s needed to survive the world in which we live. Just an honest beautiful read and one I know I’ll return to again and again.
As one of many who found cathartic comfort in Sheila’s book Just the Two of Us, this is another incredibly honest and heartfelt read. The world has changed (and still is changing!) so rapidly over the last few decade but Sheila’s “Old Rage” is a steadfastly honest piece of writing. She covers everything in old age from the loneliness and aches and pains to rage at the body that once did so much but now can’t, and the strange society that we’re all making our way through. She writes so fantastically about the joint rage against and love of humanity that’s needed to survive the world in which we live. Just an honest beautiful read and one I know I’ll return to again and again.
July 15, 2023
Was really looking forward to this book as I love Sheila's straight talking and not phaffing and this didn't disappoint!
It was so honest and to the point -Sheila just says things as they are and is not afraid to be opiniated and to share those views -and this was so refreshing and I really resonated with this! I may not have agreed with all her views - I did agree with nearly 95% of them - but I relished the fact that - as Sheila says - in this age of cancel culture, she was still able and willing to share her views - its as it should be!
So refreshing to read a book with a person's views and opinions written down exactly how they said them and felt them - she wrote the book as herself and didn't try to be anything or anyone else - loved it!
It was so honest and to the point -Sheila just says things as they are and is not afraid to be opiniated and to share those views -and this was so refreshing and I really resonated with this! I may not have agreed with all her views - I did agree with nearly 95% of them - but I relished the fact that - as Sheila says - in this age of cancel culture, she was still able and willing to share her views - its as it should be!
So refreshing to read a book with a person's views and opinions written down exactly how they said them and felt them - she wrote the book as herself and didn't try to be anything or anyone else - loved it!
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