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. However, Banks felt she was pigeonholed into writing about certain subjects, and was often put to work writing scripts. Although not Jewish, she became an Israeli citizen. In her later years, Banks lived in
Shepperton, Surrey. She died from cancer at a care facility in Surrey, on 4 April 2024; Banks was 94 years old. ==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), ; illus.
Joseph A. Smith (
William Morrow & Co, 1992), •
The Indian in the Cupboard series •
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) ; 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), • ; 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), •
The L-Shaped Room (
Chatto & Windus, 1960); US ed., 1961 • published in the US as
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 •
Fair Exchange (
Piatkus, 1998)
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) ==References==