Melissa Bank Book order (chronological)

An epic, powerful and intensely personal debut about war, migration, family, and the search for a place to call home. For fans of PACHINKO, WILD SWANS and ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE

When Penguin published Melissa Bank's debut The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing in 1999, it was an immediate bestseller and was garlanded with praise by critics for its unique, honest and appealing voice. In this piece, Jane tells us about her relationship with a man who will never use her name.

Six years after her successful debut, Melissa Bank returns with a refreshingly honest exploration of a young woman's journey into adulthood. The story follows Sophie Applebaum from her comfortable yet awkward childhood in suburban Pennsylvania to the challenges of love and career in Manhattan. Bank avoids the self-indulgent pitfalls often found in the Chick Lit genre she helped popularize. We first meet the Applebaum family en route to cousin Rebecca's bat mitzvah, where Sophie sneaks cigarettes with a charming eighth grader. This minor rebellion highlights her role as an innocent observer rather than an instigator. Key moments in Sophie's life unfold through her relationships: a mythical college roommate named Venice, her charismatic older brother, her brilliant younger brother, her enigmatic father, and her hilarious grandmother, who is determined to save her "Sophila" from "impending spinsterhood." Sophie encounters a series of commitment-phobic men, reflecting her struggle to find comfort in herself. As she realizes during a seventh-grade skating party, "I felt sure that everyone was looking at me and then realized that no one was," capturing the essence of her insecurities. Clever, occasionally hilarious, and often poignant, this narrative captivates readers, inviting them to embrace Sophie's indecisive and self-destructive tendencies while appreciating her sincerity.

Shannon is 30 and single. When her relationship falters, she moves home to save money. Once home, she is reluctantly drawn into the sometimes infuriating realm of her mother. Life for Shannon takes on the complexities of Flo's life, as mother and daughter struggle to redefine their own boundaries.

The New York Times bestselling classic of a young woman’s journey in work, love, and life “In this swinging, funny, and tender study of contemporary relationships, Bank refutes once and for all the popular notions of neurotic thirtysomething women.” —Entertainment Weekly “Truly poignant.” —Time Generous-hearted and wickedly insightful, The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing maps the progress of Jane Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition through the perilous terrain of sex, love, relationships, and the treacherous waters of the workplace. Soon Jane is swept off her feet by an older man and into a Fitzgeraldesque whirl of cocktail parties, country houses, and rules that were made to be broken, but comes to realize that it’s a world where the stakes are much too high for comfort. With an unforgettable comic touch, Bank skillfully teases out universal issues, puts a clever new spin on the mating dance, and captures in perfect pitch what it’s like to come of age as a young woman.