The Lady in the Van on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's consensus states, "Led by a marvelous performance from Maggie Smith, "Lady in the Van" wrings poignant, often hilarious insight from its fact-based source material." On Metacritic the film holds a score of 70 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Guy Lodge, of "Variety" magazine, attended the worldwide premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. After the screening, he described Smith's portrayal of Mary Shepherd as "one of the most tailor-made leading roles of her late career". Even though, he says, the film is "low
The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window" is a fantasy novella by American writer Rachel Swirsky. It explores the conjunction of invocation, deep time, and culture shock. It was originally published in Subterranean Magazine, in the summer of 2010, and subsequently republished in "The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2011" (from Prime Books) and "The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol. 5" (from Night Shade Books). Naeva—the Lady of the story's title—is a sorceress in a matriarchy. After being fatally injured, she is