Lynne Reid Banks

Lynne Reid Banks
Born	(1929-07-31)31 July 1929 Barnes, Surrey, England
Died	Surrey, England
Occupation	Author
Nationality	British
Notable works	The Indian in the Cupboard The L-Shaped Room
Spouse	Chaim Stephenson (m. 1965; d. 2016)
Children	3
Website
lynnereidbanks.com

Lynne Reid Banks (31 July 1929 – 4 April 2024) was a British author of books for children and adults, including The Indian in the Cupboard, which has sold over 15 million copies and has been successfully adapted to film. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, published in 1960, was an instant and lasting best seller. It was later made into a movie of the same name and led to two sequels, The Backward Shadow and Two is Lonely. Banks also wrote a biography of the Brontë family, entitled Dark Quartet, and a sequel about Charlotte Brontë, Path to the Silent Country.

Life and career

Banks was born in Barnes, London, the only child of doctor James and actress Muriel Reid Banks. She was evacuated to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada during World War II, with her mother and cousin, and returned after the war was over. She attended St Teresa's School Effingham in Surrey. Before becoming a writer, Banks was an actress, attending drama school, and in 1955 began working as a television journalist at ITN, one of the first women to do so in Britain. However, Banks felt she was pigeonholed into writing about certain subjects, and was often put to work writing scripts.

In 1960, Banks released her first book, The L-Shaped Room, to massive success.

In 1962, Banks emigrated to Israel, where she taught for eight years on a kibbutz, Yas'ur. In 1965, she married Chaim Stephenson (1926–2016), a sculptor, with whom she had three sons. Although not Jewish, she became an Israeli citizen.

Although the family returned to England in 1971, the influence of her time in Israel can be seen in some of her books (including One More River and its sequel, Broken Bridge, and other books, such as An End to Running and Children at the Gate) which are set partially or mainly on kibbutzim. In England, the family lived in the London suburbs and Beaminster, Dorset.

In October 2013, Banks won the J. M. Barrie award for outstanding contribution to children's arts.

In her later years, she lived in Shepperton, Surrey. Banks died from cancer at a care facility in Surrey, on 4 April 2024, at the age of 94.

Works

Children's novels

• The Farthest-Away Mountain, illus. Victor Ambrus (London: Abelard-Schuman, 1976); US ed., 1977; also illus. Dave Henderson
• The Adventures of King Midas, illustrated by George Him (J.M. Dent, 1976), LCCN 76-379385; illus. Jos. A. Smith (William Morrow & Co, 1992), LCCN 92-3795
  • The Indian in the Cupboard (1980)
  • The Return of the Indian (1985)
  • The Secret of the Indian (1989)
  • The Mystery of the Cupboard (1993)
  • The Key to the Indian (1998)
• , illus. William Geldart
• Harry the Poisonous Centipede, illustrated by Tony Ross
  • Harry the Poisonous Centipede Goes to Sea (2006)
• ; Illustrations Terry Riley, US ed., 1988
• Bad Cat Good Cat, illus. Tony Ross (2011)
• Ella and her bad Yellow T-Shirt, illus. Omri Stephenson (OGS, 2011)
• The Wrong-Coloured Dragon, illus. Joanna Scott (Kindle, 2012)
• The Red Red Dragon (Walker Books, 2022)

Short stories

• ; illus. Barry Moser and Hilda Offen
• Sarah and After: the matriarchs (The Bodley Head, 1975) LCCN 75-318081; US title, Sarah and After: five women who founded a nation – Bible stories

Older readers

• My Darling Villain (Bodley Head, 1977); US ed., 1986
• 88
• ; US ed., 1989
• One More River, revised edition (NY: William Morrow, 1992), LCCN 91-43152
• ; US ed., 1994 (revised?) – sequel to One More River
• Maura's Angel (1998)
• Stealing Stacey (2004)

Adult novels

• All in a Row: a comedy in three acts (Deane, 1956), LCCN 56-41380
• The L-Shaped Room (Chatto & Windus, 1960); US ed., 1961
• House of Hope (Simon & Schuster, 1962)
• Children at the Gate (Chatto & Windus, 1968)
• – sequel to The L-Shaped Room
• Two is Lonely (Chatto & Windus, 1974) – completes the L-Shaped Room trilogy
• Dark Quartet: the story of the Brontës (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976); US ed., 1977 – Biographical fiction

• ; US ed., 1978
• Defy the Wilderness (Chatto & Windus, 1981)
• The Warning Bell (Hamish Hamilton, 1984); US ed., 1986
• Casualties (1986); US ed., 1987

Non-fiction

• Torn Country: an oral history of the Israeli war of independence (New York: Franklin Watts, 1982)

Picture books

• The Spice Rack, illus. Omri Stephenson (OGS Designs, 2010)
• Polly and Jake, illus. Omri Stephenson (OGS, 2010)

External links

• Lynne Reid Banks at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Search Results: "Lynne Reid Banks" at Kirkus Reviews
• Lynne Reid Banks at Library of Congress Authorities, with 66 catalogue records
• Lynne Reid Banks at the Internet Movie Database
• Lynne Reid Banks discography at Discogs