Born Free
Laura Hird
Available as eBook
‘One of Scotland’s most talented writers’ Daily Telegraph
Punchy, acerbic, sharp-witted and above-all, acutely observed, Born Free tells the story of an ordinary family who are all trying to escape from something - and each other.
The interactions between Jake, Joni, Angie and Vic reveal a hellish cocktail of asdolescent and mid-life crises; the savagery of sibling rivalry; the waking nightmare of a marriage gone cold - and, naturally, the unbridgeable, infernal chasm between the generations.
It’s a story of everyday life.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WHITBREAD FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2000 BOOK OF THE YEAR - THE FACE ‘99 NOMINATED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE
“The writing is of a high quality and puts across a powerful sense of claustrophobia and quiet desperation.”
the Observer
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“It’s desperately readable, blackly comic and painful, a delight born of dysfunction.”
the Times
“Born Free confirms Laura Hird as one of Scotland’s most talented writers. This bleak tale of urban dismay, set in the badlands of Edinburgh, is a work of considerable force and maturity - Hird organises her material with confidence and style - The novel’s final 50 pages are a memorable descent into the dark mires of the human spirit, yet the book ends with a spark of optimism.”
daily Telegraph
“Born Free exhibits a maturity that suggests Hird has emerged from the coat-tails of her peers and has ceased to play the literary wee sister - she manages to carry things off with aplomb - Hird’s portrayal of a woman in alcoholic free-fall is uncomfortably accurate - shifts with ease from the screamingly funny to the gut-wrenching - thought provoking and entertaining.”
the Scotsman
Laura Hird
Laura Hird’s debut novel, Born Free, was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and nominated for the Orange Prize. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies. Her latest collection of stories, Hope and Other Urban Tales, was published by Canongate in October 2006. Her latest book is Dear Laura, published in March 2007. She lives in Edinburgh.