Old Rage: 'One of our best-loved actor's powerful riposte to a world driving her mad’ - DAILY MAIL

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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. 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. 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..

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. 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.

It’s true that her many tirades are rooted less in cantankerousness than a loathing of perceived injustices. While there is plenty of fury in Old Rage, there is also humanity and heart. The much-loved actor candidly shares the fear, joy and frustration she has found in her ninth decade' Guardian, Books of the Year 2022 Home alone, classified as 'extremely vulnerable', she finds herself yelling at the TV and talking to the pigeons. But she can at least take a good long look at life – her work and family, her beliefs (many of them the legacy of her wartime childhood) and, uncomfortable as it might be to face, her future.

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.In Old Rage, one of Britain's best loved actors opens up about her ninth decade. Funny, feisty, honest, she makes for brilliant company as she talks about her life as a daughter, a sister, a mother, a widow, an actor, a friend and looks at a world so different from the wartime world of her childhood. And yet - despite age, despite rage - she finds there are always reasons for joy.