Well, the truth was, everyone in the carriage was ready to throw the whingeing little wretch out of the window. She was educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, graduating in 1949, and was an actress for five years. She has worked as a journalist and was the first woman reporter on British television. In 1962 she emigrated to Israel, where she lived in a kibbutz, and was married in 1965. She has three children.
Banks is the author of twenty-five books, including volumes of Jewish history.
She now resides in England, where she writes full-time and occasionally acts on radio. The Return of the Indian was a Junior Literary Guild selection. The Story of the Brontes was named a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association for the year 1977. Her adult novel, The L-Shaped Room , is widely read by young adults. A Mystery , 1989.