CANR
WORK TITLE: HAPPY & YOU KNOW IT
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.laurahankin.com/
CITY: New York
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Feminarchy, feminist comedy video producer. Has also worked as an actor in film, stage plays, and musicals.
WRITINGS
Contributor to McSweeney’s and HuffPost.
SIDELIGHTS
Laura Hankin is a writer who also produces feminist comedy videos with the sketch group Feminarchy. She has contributed articles to McSweeney’s and HuffPost. Hankin is also an actor, having appeared in stage plays, musicals, and the movie While We’re Young.
The Summertime Girls
Hankin published her debut novel, The Summertime Girls, in 2015. In an interview in the Bookculture blog, she explained that her motivation for penning this novel came from a difficult period in her life after having moved to New York City. She was disappointed by the auditions she attended, could not find a job that stimulated her, and had difficulty defining her friendships with friends from school as each of them moved in their own directions into adulthood. In the interview, Hankin admitted: “it’s nice when you can put your angst and confusion to good use.”
The novel centers on the friendship of Ally Morris and Beth Abbott, two women who were inseparable as school girls but have drifted apart in adulthood. The pair reunite one summer in rural Maine when a family crisis compels Beth to contact Ally. To cope with the problems in their lives, they must resurrect past demons and reveal damaging secrets if they are both able to move forward in life.
A contributor to the Crystal Book Reviews blog commented that “the past and present are magically interwoven in this unique novel about truly growing and loving life no matter where it leads.” The Crystal Book Reviews blog reviewer called it a “delight read which this reviewer recommends highly.” A Bookfan blog reviewer shared: “My favorite character is Owen, the young man who likes Beth but isn’t afraid to hold her accountable for her words and actions.”
Happy & You Know It
In 2020 Hankin published the novel Happy & You Know It. After being kicked out of her band, singer Claire takes a job with a wealthy mommy-baby play group. While she is initially intimidated by women, she starts to warm to their exorbitant lifestyles and whims. The closer she gets, though, the more she realizes that their seemingly perfect lives are just facades. In some cases, they are hiding potentially dangerous secrets.
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews observed that what begins “as a satire of privileged parenting quickly becomes something else entirely–a domestic thriller with twists and turns that are entirely unexpected and incredibly fun.” Booklist contributor Tracy Babiasz opined that “it’s Claire’s thoughtful look at our expectations of women and mothers that give the novel its depth.” A reviewer writing in the Gen the Bookworm blog reasoned that while novel’s “exaggerated plot” occasionally seemed “a little out there … it totally worked in so many ways.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 1, 2020, Tracy Babiasz, review of Happy & You Know It, p. 21.
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2020, review of Happy & You Know It.
ONLINE
Bookculture, https://www.bookculture.com/ (July 29, 2015), author interview.
Bookfan, https://bookfanmary.wordpress.com/ (August 25, 2015 ), review of The Summertime Girls.
Crystal Book Reviews, http://crystalbookreviews.blogspot.com/ (August 4, 2015), review of The Summertime Girls.
Gen the Bookworm, https://genthebookworm.com/ (February 10, 2020), review of Happy & You Know It.
Huffington Post, https://www.huffpost.com/ (August 24, 2015), Nancy Doyle Palmer, “The Summertime Girls—BFF’s Reconfigured;” (April 14, 2020), author profile.
Laura Hankin website, https://www.laurahankin.com (April 14, 2020).
About Me
On the writing end of things, I have a novel, HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT, coming out in May 2020. Find all the relevant information here, and win my undying gratitude by preordering from your local indie bookstore, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon today, as well as adding it to your Goodreads!
I've also written for other outlets, like McSweeney's and HuffPost. Some favorite clips:
HuffPost: What My Grandmother Taught Me About Love, Writing, and Skinny-Dipping
McSweeney's: My Husband, Senator Ted Cruz, Is Just A Regular Guy (named an end of the year favorite by McSweeney's editor Christopher Monks!)
The feminist comedy videos I write, produce, and star in with my sketch group, Feminarchy, have been featured on Funny or Die, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, and more. NowThis Her profiled us and our mission. We perform often around NYC, and have new videos coming soon. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for updates!
As a performer, I've been in movies (While We're Young), acted in plays and musicals regionally and off-Broadway, sung with Karen O, and played a five-year-old multiple times. Full performance resume available upon request.
As a human, I once broke my rib from hugging too hard.
CONTRIBUTOR
Laura Hankin
Author, 'The Summertime Girls'
Laura Hankin is the author of The Summertime Girls, a novel about estranged best friends forced back together for one final summer in Maine. When not writing, she sings to babies and acts in New York City. Recently, she broke her rib from hugging too hard, but she's all better now.
The Summertime Girls — BFF’s Reconfigured
08/24/2015 11:17 am ET Updated Dec 06, 2017
Laura Hankin’s The Summertime Girls is the latest generation’s take on women and friendship — this time it’s a pair of 20 somethings who have been together since fifth grade and have changed enough to cause some real damage to each other and the BFF paradigm itself.
2015-08-23-1440299916-7537442-image1.JPGSummertimeGirls.JPG
I’ve written about the complications and pain of Friendships Gone Bad before and Hankin’s story resonates with the levels of tension, digs, fakery and denial that can plague relationships between the best of women. Until it explodes. Like the epic brawl between Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft in The Turning Point - this confrontation between two women who know each other way too well makes the term “cat fight” a sexist understatement.
Hankin captures that anger and harsh truth-telling as well as the strength in the delicate balance of the ‘best’ friendship. For anyone lucky enough to have deep and long-lasting friendships in their lives, The Summertime Girls is a worthy handbook.
I recently interviewed author Laura Hankin:
2015-08-23-1440299867-4097453-image2.JPGLauraHankin.JPG
Nancy Doyle Palmer: Even though the classic BFF relationship contains lots and lots of talking, why do you think it’s hard to be honest with a close friend?
Laura Hankin: Friendships aren’t governed by the same rules as, say, marriage. You don’t stand up in front of a crowd and promise to love your friend forever, even when the going gets tough. And I think that, in general, we as a society hold up marriage and family as the ultimate goal—your family is your team, and often friends become a temporary team while you’re waiting for that family to come together. Because of this, friendships are sometimes viewed as relationships that are supposed to be fun and supportive and easy, so when they become complicated for whatever reason, it can be tempting to fade away instead of actually figuring out your issues.
NDP: Both characters struggle in this story with facing fundamental truths about themselves as well as their relationship until everything sort of explodes in an epically drunk fight. Is there a better way or is this scenario inevitable?
LH: Oh, I think there’s absolutely a better way! I wouldn’t say that Beth and Ally are necessarily modeling healthy behavior throughout much of the novel... Ideally I think you’d face issues honestly as they come up, instead of bottling them all up inside until you explode. But I guess that’s easier said than done sometimes.
NDP: Long-lasting friendships go through changes, but do you think there are essential elements or matters of chemistry that really do create a “friends for life” relationship that is on the level of family or marriage?
Women And Power
A weekly exploration of women and power.
address@email.com
LH: I really do, maybe because I’ve seen some of those relationships in action. My grandmother still goes on vacation with her best friend from high school. When my mother got cancer, her best friend from college came down from Boston to our home in Washington DC and stayed with us for weeks on end.
I’m a big old friendship advocate—my friends and I often talk about how we’d like to be little old ladies sitting on a porch together. I think there are a million factors that go into creating these relationships, but some of the really important ones are honesty, support, similar morals, and being able to make each other laugh like crazy.
NDP: You lost your mother at an early age, how important have your own friendships been to you and how much did you draw on them for this story?
LH: It’s hard for me sometimes to identify what in my life is the way that it is because my mother died, and what would have been the same anyway. But I wouldn’t be surprised if my female friendships are more intense and special to me because I lost the most important woman in my life too soon.
NDP: You yourself are an actor and singer in New York City and have now written a successful novel - is this a career change or will you continue performing and writing?
LH: It’s funny, at my New York book reading, during the Q&A section, a stranger asked me which one I was now, an actor or a writer, and told me that I HAD to choose. But I don’t think I do! I’m sure I will go through periods where I focus more on one or the other, because it’s hard to write a novel while acting in a show and give both adequate attention. But they also go together well, so ideally I’ll be able to combine them! For example, my friend and I just started filming a web series we wrote for ourselves, and that’s been amazingly fun.
Q&A with Laura Hankin, author of "Summertime Girls"
We do now have one person in the store and contactless pick ups can be arranged by phone call 212-865-1588 of prepaid orders.
We're very excited to say that Laura Hankin will be coming in to sign some copies of her new book, The Summertime Girls! The book will be release on August 4th, but while you wait, check out our Q&A with Laura below.
The Summertime Girls Synopsis:
When two lifelong friends reunite for one more summer in small-town Maine, they must bridge the gap caused by the dreams and secrets that tore them apart
Ally Morris and Beth Abbott were beyond inseparable. From the very first time they met, the girls knew they d found a once-in-a-lifetime friendship. But sometimes, life can t help but get in the way.
As time goes by, disappointments and petty resentments begin to alter what they once thought was forever. Ally's boho lifestyle leaves her drowning in confusion and cheap whisky, while a terrible secret threatens to shatter Beth's carefully controlled world. By the time they need each other most, Ally and Beth are nearly strangers to each other.
When a family crisis prompts Beth to contact Ally for help out of the blue, the girls reunite in Maine. But the distance between them is overwhelming. To save their friendship, Ally and Beth will have to confront painful moments in their past and redefine who they are before their incredible connection fades away for good
1) How did you come to write The Summertime Girls?
I'd moved to New York City to pursue a career as an actor. After a couple years of discouraging auditions and day jobs that didn't let me use my brain, I felt like I'd shrivel up into an unhappy raisin unless I found a creative outlet, and fast. In the wake of a break-up, I was appreciating the importance of my female friendships anew, even as I struggled to redefine some of them now that we were all out of college and trying to become adults (whatever that means...) All of these factors came together into the idea to write The Summertime Girls. It's nice when you can put your angst and confusion to good use.
2) What are you currently reading?
I JUST finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I know there's some post-apocalyptic-fiction fatigue going around, but I'd highly recommend this one. It explores the role of the arts in a time when most people are concerned with simple survival, and plays with non-linear structure in really interesting ways, and is heartbreaking and hopeful all at once.
3) Do you have a personal favorite book of all time? If so, can you share it and tell us why?
The first book that comes to mind is I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith, about a girl coming of age while living in a decaying castle with her family in 1930s England. It has one of the most vivid and charming protagonists I've ever encountered, and makes me feel warm all over. If you're having a bad day, you should read it. If you're having a good day, you should read it. Basically, if you're alive, you should read it.
4) Is there anything you are particularly looking forward to the publication of?
Jonathan Franzen's new book, Purity!
5) What's next? Any upcoming book projects in the works that you can tell us about?
After I finish typing this, I'm going to read through a (very rough, recently completed) draft of my second novel, about a young woman who finds her dead mother's journal. So we shall see how that goes!
Hankin, Laura HAPPY & YOU KNOW IT Berkley (Fiction None) $26.00 5, 19 ISBN: 978-1-9848-0623-9
A children’s playgroup musician discovers that the glamorous, Instagram-famous moms who employ her might be hiding something.
Claire Martin is reeling after her former band found a sexy new lead singer and suddenly scored a hit song that’s inescapable. In desperate need of cash, she agrees to take a gig singing for a playgroup. She thinks she’s just there to provide a little bit of entertainment for privileged babies and their bored, wealthy moms. That’s partly true—her new employers are obsessed with Goop-style “wellness,” going on juice cleanses and trying eye-poppingly expensive new vitamins called TrueMommy. But Claire also discovers that she kind of likes these women—they’re fun, and funny, and she admires how effortlessly they seem to do it all. She grows especially close to Whitney, who maintains a mega-popular Momstagram account that reels in sponsorships, and sarcastic Amara, who used to work in late-night TV and is now struggling as a stay-at-home mom with a difficult baby. But as Claire gets to know them better, she realizes that things might not be as perfect as they look on social media—in fact, some of the moms might be hiding secrets that could destroy not only the playgroup, but their entire lives. There’s no shortage of books that deal with rich moms keeping up appearances, but Hankin manages to make overused subject matter feel fresh and vibrant. What starts out as a satire of privileged parenting quickly becomes something else entirely—a domestic thriller with twists and turns that are entirely unexpected and incredibly fun.
A dramatic and immensely entertaining page-turner about secrets, lies, and mom culture.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 6th Edition Chicago 17th Edition
"Hankin, Laura: HAPPY & YOU KNOW IT." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2020, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A617192975/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e705e6c6. Accessed 7 Apr. 2020.
Happy and You Know It. By Laura Hankin. May 2020.384p. Berkley, $26 (9781984806239).
The glamorous, privileged mommies of New York might appear to have it all, but Hankin's (The Summertime Girls, 2015) sophomore novel has great fun satirizing that perception. Musician Claire, having just been kicked out of her band, hires on as a singer for a mommy-baby play group. She's initially intimidated by the women, with their beauty, money, and focus on wellness. Their social media presence has made them the envy of thousands of mothers. Pleased to be invited into their fold, it's not long before Claire discovers a darker world of secrets and betrayals and realizes that maybe these women aren't as together as they want everyone else to think. With a devilish sense of humor, Hankin crushes the perception that anyone's life is perfect, despite how it may appear. A slow build to hidden motives and a clever sense of humor make this a fast read, but it's Claire's thoughtful look at our expectations of women and mothers that give the novel its depth. Fans of Sophie Kinsella's My (not so) Perfect Life (2017) will read this in one sitting.--Tracy Babiasz
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 6th Edition Chicago 17th Edition
Babiasz, Tracy. "Happy and You Know It." Booklist, vol. 116, no. 13, 1 Mar. 2020, p. 21. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A618567058/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0fd0eb45. Accessed 7 Apr. 2020.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2015
The Summertime Girls: A Novel by Laura Hankin
The Summertime Girls: A Novel. Laura Hankin. Berkeley/Penguin Group (USA). August 2015. 304 pp. ISBN#: 9780425279632.
Ally Morris and Beth Abbott have been best friends since they were children. They pictured each other as sisters from the well-known and beloved novel, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. But sometimes expectations about how these novelistic characters will fulfill their destinies can’t account for what is missed about these stereotypes. And sometimes via the circumstances that suddenly arise call for each young woman to dig deep and allow what may emerge.
When we meet Ally and Beth, they have not seen each other in several years as Beth has been working in Haiti. Ally is hurt that their regular communication just seemed to decrease and then disappear. In their several meetings, in between reminiscing about their past and filling in that time between then and now, some harsh comments are dropped but just as quickly apologized for.
Ally wants to be a great singer, songwriter and musician but feels like she’s lacking the “sparkling” touch that would wow producers and people who deal with individual and group musicians on a daily basis. Her lack of confidence has history we learn as we keep reading and hope as we continue to an unexpected meeting.
Secrets will be revealed about both young women. Readers will be tempted to think that Beth’s painful memories about Haiti are worse than anything Ally or any American could experience. But we come to realize it was pain that drove Beth there, within a story that you will never forget once you read about it.
The nice thing about this novel is that a fine balance exists between light-hearted and very funny moments and the intense, heavy scenes that are inserted in just the right places and always at the right time. Characters don’t have to travel far to be a healing presence for friends and acquaintances and more than that, their own selves.
The past and present are magically interwoven in this unique novel about truly growing and loving life no matter where it leads! Delight read which this reviewer recommends highly.
The Summertime Girls by Laura Hankin
August 25, 2015 Mary Berkley, Contemporary Fiction, Laura Hankin, NetGalley
the summertime girls (8:4)Title: The Summertime Girls
Author: Laura Hankin
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Published: August 2015 – Berkley
Source: Publisher
Synopsis: When two lifelong friends reunite for one more summer in small-town Maine, they must bridge the gap caused by the dreams and secrets that tore them apart…
Ally Morris and Beth Abbott were beyond inseparable. From the very first time they met, the girls knew they’d found a once-in-a-lifetime friendship. But sometimes, life can’t help but get in the way.
As time goes by, disappointments and petty resentments begin to alter what they once thought was forever. Ally’s boho lifestyle leaves her drowning in confusion and cheap whisky, while a terrible secret threatens to shatter Beth’s carefully controlled world. By the time they need each other most, Ally and Beth are nearly strangers to each other.
When a family crisis prompts Beth to contact Ally for help out of the blue, the girls reunite in Maine. But the distance between them is overwhelming. To save their friendship, Ally and Beth will have to confront painful moments in their past and redefine who they are—before their incredible connection fades away for good… (publisher)
My take: The Summertime Girls is about two friends, Ally and Beth. Like many friendships that have lasted a long time there have been ups and downs. There’s blame to go around, misunderstandings, and lots of hurt feelings. But there are bright times too. What Beth and Ally need to decide is whether they want to give up on the other or keep trying to get back to the friendship they once had.
Ally just went through a rough breakup and is a live wire reacting to whatever comes in contact with her – much to her detriment. Beth lives a good life but it’s based on guilt for what she has or what she can do with her life. I really felt sorry for her because she was in a constant struggle to prove that she’s a good person. If any two people ever needed to have a good friend who understands them it’s these two.
My favorite character is Owen, the young man who likes Beth but isn’t afraid to hold her accountable for her words and actions. To say anything else would be a spoiler.
There are a lot of emotions tied up in their story. I loved that their friendship mirrored the one Beth’s grandma had with a lost friend. The younger women could learn a lot from them. The Summertime Girls is a story about learning about life and relationships and forgiveness. And realizing it’s never too late to learn.