Reading this made me tear up. Melissa Banks is one of the authors who make my Personal Literary Canon. Because she only wrote those two books and died so young, it's rare for me to come across a person who's read her but, honestly, everyone who HAS is a fan for life, I think. I read her in my twenties and in many ways, felt so seen and understood on her pages, even though the specifics were so different. I am so mad that she got labeled as "chick lit" because that term has definitely been used to disparage the lives and writing of women. But I also think that she has made a whole slew of contemporary "thought daughter" literature possible... I recommend her to people who like Sally Rooney or Caroline O'Donoghue.
Your post made me so nostalgic and emotional about these books, time for a re-read. 🥹🥹🥹
Thank you, Petya (and sorry for making you tear up!) I can't believe I had never heard of her until I came across the re-release of Girls' Guide. I loved your Personal Literary Canon post and when I saw you were a fan, I took it as a sign to buy both books immediately! I am now pressing everyone I know to read them both :)
This is such a fantastic look at Melissa Banks and the expectations of “great literature”. I don’t like book snobbery - whether you like a book or not, there’s a place for it. I can’t wait to check out Melissa Banks’ two novels. It’s a shame she didn’t write more, but they sound like insightful and relatable books. Thank you for sharing :)
I like your pushback at the publishing / critical world! Writers should write about life and dating is such an interesting window into both one’s own and others’ souls. Lovely essay, Kate
I read Girls Guide when it first came out. I loved it, and passed it on to my daughters. The book was loved by all of us. Novels like this are “Bildungsroman” and typify a protagonists journey from childhood to adulthood, usually a boy becoming a man. (Think David Copperfield.) But because women historically had a path directed toward domesticity and an interior life, women’s writings were easily dismissed by critics and found lacking such distinction, and therefore not worthy of study or republishing. Of course it’s now changing. Time reveals the difference between a novel that is popular when published, written with humour and wit, and a classic that endures because it touches, across generations and genders, truths we all share. Future generations can only discover these works if they continue to be available in libraries and bookstores. I remember the thrill I had when Virago began to reissue women’s writings from the late 19th to mid20th century whose books were being forgotten. In today’s overwhelming presence of social media, two things can happen. We are so busy keeping up with blogs and news and friends , our reading depth suffers. Or, as with your column today, we find out about authors otherwise overlooked., like Melissa Banks, and find them. Now I’ll see if I can find my original softcover of her works or have to borrow an ebook from the library—-if they have it.
Thank you, Pamela. I love it when women claim back the ‘Bildungsroman’ for themselves :) I am planning to also pass both these books onto my daughter as I feel the stories are just as relevant as when they were written. I agree re Virago’s re-publishing and wrote a piece celebrating their 25th anniversary quite some time ago, if you’re interested in it: https://anarrativeoftheirown.substack.com/p/feminist-presses
Thank you for uncovering this author - Melissa Banks is new to me as well. I’m intrigued to see how she represents “a type of ‘every woman’…of that liminal space when we are figuring out our roles and our tastes whilst also dealing with the everyday banalities of life.” That’s a period of life that I and several friends are smack in the middle of.
Thanks, Renee! I would definitely recommend checking both her books out then! Although I am a more, let’s say ‘mature’ woman…I could really identify with phases of my younger selves in her characters, and my 25 year old daughter’s life now. I don’t think a lot of the fundamental realities of careers and relationships have changed all that much.
Reading this made me tear up. Melissa Banks is one of the authors who make my Personal Literary Canon. Because she only wrote those two books and died so young, it's rare for me to come across a person who's read her but, honestly, everyone who HAS is a fan for life, I think. I read her in my twenties and in many ways, felt so seen and understood on her pages, even though the specifics were so different. I am so mad that she got labeled as "chick lit" because that term has definitely been used to disparage the lives and writing of women. But I also think that she has made a whole slew of contemporary "thought daughter" literature possible... I recommend her to people who like Sally Rooney or Caroline O'Donoghue.
Your post made me so nostalgic and emotional about these books, time for a re-read. 🥹🥹🥹
Thank you, Petya (and sorry for making you tear up!) I can't believe I had never heard of her until I came across the re-release of Girls' Guide. I loved your Personal Literary Canon post and when I saw you were a fan, I took it as a sign to buy both books immediately! I am now pressing everyone I know to read them both :)
I read High Fidelity around the same time, too, and Nick Hornby completely blew my mind... I had no idea that books could be like that 😂😂😂
Me too! I also love the film version- it's one we still have on DVD!
This is such a fantastic look at Melissa Banks and the expectations of “great literature”. I don’t like book snobbery - whether you like a book or not, there’s a place for it. I can’t wait to check out Melissa Banks’ two novels. It’s a shame she didn’t write more, but they sound like insightful and relatable books. Thank you for sharing :)
Book snobbery is the worst! I think you would really enjoy both of Melissa Bank’s books! :)
I read the Girls Guide To Hunting when it first came out. It's still on my book shelf, I believe. Thanks for her other recommendation!
Thanks, Jenna. I would imagine living in New York yourself (if you did back then) the books would be relatable as well.
When I write, I always look for something outside the genre, and you have now found my next read. This is a wonderfully written piece; thank you.
Excellent- and thank you :)
Lovely to be reminded of Melissa Bank. Hunting and Fishing is a wonderful book. So true about the snobbery attached to certain genres of fiction.
Thank you for reading! 😀
I like your pushback at the publishing / critical world! Writers should write about life and dating is such an interesting window into both one’s own and others’ souls. Lovely essay, Kate
Thanks, Kate! 😀
I read Girls Guide when it first came out. I loved it, and passed it on to my daughters. The book was loved by all of us. Novels like this are “Bildungsroman” and typify a protagonists journey from childhood to adulthood, usually a boy becoming a man. (Think David Copperfield.) But because women historically had a path directed toward domesticity and an interior life, women’s writings were easily dismissed by critics and found lacking such distinction, and therefore not worthy of study or republishing. Of course it’s now changing. Time reveals the difference between a novel that is popular when published, written with humour and wit, and a classic that endures because it touches, across generations and genders, truths we all share. Future generations can only discover these works if they continue to be available in libraries and bookstores. I remember the thrill I had when Virago began to reissue women’s writings from the late 19th to mid20th century whose books were being forgotten. In today’s overwhelming presence of social media, two things can happen. We are so busy keeping up with blogs and news and friends , our reading depth suffers. Or, as with your column today, we find out about authors otherwise overlooked., like Melissa Banks, and find them. Now I’ll see if I can find my original softcover of her works or have to borrow an ebook from the library—-if they have it.
Thank you, Pamela. I love it when women claim back the ‘Bildungsroman’ for themselves :) I am planning to also pass both these books onto my daughter as I feel the stories are just as relevant as when they were written. I agree re Virago’s re-publishing and wrote a piece celebrating their 25th anniversary quite some time ago, if you’re interested in it: https://anarrativeoftheirown.substack.com/p/feminist-presses
Thank you for uncovering this author - Melissa Banks is new to me as well. I’m intrigued to see how she represents “a type of ‘every woman’…of that liminal space when we are figuring out our roles and our tastes whilst also dealing with the everyday banalities of life.” That’s a period of life that I and several friends are smack in the middle of.
Thanks, Renee! I would definitely recommend checking both her books out then! Although I am a more, let’s say ‘mature’ woman…I could really identify with phases of my younger selves in her characters, and my 25 year old daughter’s life now. I don’t think a lot of the fundamental realities of careers and relationships have changed all that much.