Lynne Reid Banks (born 31 July 1929) is a British author of books for children and adults. She has written forty-five books, including the best-selling children's novel ''

The Indian in the Cupboard ''The Indian in the Cupboard'' is a low fantasy children's novel by the British writer Lynne Reid Banks. It was published in 1980 with illustrations by Robin Jacques (UK) and Brock Cole (US). It was later adapted as a 1995 children's film o ...

'', which has sold over 10 million copies and has been successfully adapted to

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

. 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 The Brontës () were a nineteenth-century literary family, born in the village of Thornton and later associated with the village of Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–184 ...

, entitled ''Dark Quartet'', and a sequel about

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

, ''Path to the Silent Country''.

Life

Banks was born in London, the only child of James and Muriel Reid Banks. She was evacuated to

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, Saskatchewan, Canada during World War II, and returned after the war was over. She attended St Teresa's School Effingham in Surrey. Before becoming a writer, Banks was an actress, and also worked as a television journalist in Britain, one of the first women to do so. In 1962, Banks emigrated to Israel, where she taught for eight years on a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

, Yas'ur. In 1965, she married Chaim Stephenson (1926–2016), a sculptor, with whom she had three sons. She lives in

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

, Surrey, UK. 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

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

Works

Children's novels

* '' The Farthest-Away Mountain'', illus.

Victor Ambrus Victor Ambrus (born László Győző Ambrus, 19 August 1935 – 10 February 2021) was a Hungarian-born British illustrator of history, folk tales, and animal story books. He also became known from his appearances on the Channel 4 television ...

(London: Abelard-Schuman, 1976); US ed., 1977; also illus. Dave Henderson * ''The Adventures of King Midas'', illustrated by George Him ( J.M. Dent, 1976), ; illus. Jos. A. Smith (

William Morrow & Co William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The c ...

, 1992), ** ''

'' (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) * ''The Fairy Rebel'', illus. William Geldart (1985); US ed., 19 * Harry the Poisonous Centipede, illustrated by

Tony Ross Anthony Lee Ross (born 10 August 1938) is a British author and illustrator of children's picture books. In Britain, he is best known for writing and illustrating his Little Princess books and for illustrating the Horrid Henry series by Frances ...

** ''Harry the Poisonous Centipede: a story to make you squirm'' (1997) ** ''Harry the Poisonous Centipede's Big Adventure'' (2001) ** ''Harry the Poisonous Centipede Goes to Sea'' (2006) * ''I, Houdini: The Autobiography of a Self-Educated Hamster'', illus. Terry Riley (J.M. Dent, 1978); US ed., 1988 * ''Angela and Diabola'' (1997) * ''Alice-By-Accident'' (2000) * ''Tiger, Tiger'' (2005) * ''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) * ''Uprooted: a Canadian war story'' (HarperCollins, 2014), ‘The Red Red Dragon’ (Walker Books, 2022) ;Short stories * ''The Magic Hare'', illus.

Barry Moser Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American artist and educator, known as a printmaker specializing in wood engravings, and an illustrator of numerous works of literature. He is also the owner and operator of the Pennyroyal Press, an engraving and smal ...

(1993); also illus. Hilda Offen * ''Sarah and After: the matriarchs'' (

The Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...

, 1975) ; US title, ''Sarah and After: five women who founded a nation'' – Bible stories ;Older readers * ''One More River'' (London: Vallentine Mitchell, 1973) * ''My Darling Villain'' (Bodley Head, 1977); US ed., 1986 * ''The Writing on the Wall'' (1982) ?88 * ''Melusine: a mystery'' (1988); US ed., 1989 * ''One More River'', revised edition (NY: William Morrow, 1992), * ''Broken Bridge''; US ed., 1994 (revised?) – sequel to ''One More River'' * ''Maura's Angel'' (1998) * ''Moses in Egypt: a novel inspired by the Prince of Egypt and the book of Exodus'' (1998) * ''The Dungeon'' (2002) * ''Stealing Stacey'' (2004)

Adult novels

* ''All in a Row: a comedy in three acts'' (Deane, 1956), *'' The L-Shaped Room'' (

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

, 1960); US ed., 1961 * ''An End to Running'' (Chatto & Windus, 1962) * ''House of Hope'' (Simon & Schuster, 1962) * ''Children at the Gate'' (Chatto & Windus, 1968) * ''The Backward Shadow'' (Simon & Schuster, 1970) – 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 Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

, 1976); US ed., 1977 – Biographical fictionhttps://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lynne-reid-banks-6/dark-quartet-the-story-of-the-brontas-2/ . Kirkus. 1977. * ''Path to the Silent Country:

's years of fame'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977); US ed., 1978 * ''Defy the Wilderness'' (Chatto & Windus, 1981) * ''The Warning Bell'' (

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which w ...

, 1984); US ed., 1986 * ''Casualties'' (1986); US ed., 1987 * ''Fair Exchange'' (London:

Piatkus Little, Brown Book Group is a UK publishing company created in 1992, with multiple predecessors. Since 2006 Little, Brown Book Group has been owned by Hachette UK, a subsidiary of Hachette Livre. It was acquired in 2006 from Time Warner of New ...

, 1998)

Non-fiction

* ''Letters to My Israeli Sons: the story of Jewish survival'' ( W. H. Allen Ltd, 1979), * ''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)

References

External links

* *
Search Results: "Lynne Reid Banks"
at ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Lynne Reid 1929 births Living people English children's writers English women novelists People educated at St Teresa's School Kibbutzniks English expatriates in Israel