Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943, the fourth of five children. Her father was a ship's surgeon; both he and Laird's mother were Scottish. In 1945, Laird and her family returned to Britain and she grew up in South London, where she was educated at Croydon High School. When she was eighteen, Laird started teaching at a school in Malaysia. She decided to continue her adventurous life, even though she was bitten by a poisonous snake and went down with typhoid.
After attending the university in Bristol, Laird began teaching English in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She and a friend would hire mules and go into remote areas in the holidays.
After a while at Edinburgh University, Laird worked in India for a summer. During travel, she met her future husband, David McDowall, who she said was very kind to her when she was airsick on a plane. The couple were married in 1975 and have two sons, Angus and William.
Laird has also visited Iraq and Lebanon. She claims to dislike snakes, porridge and being cold but enjoys very dark chocolate, Mozart, reading and playing the violin in the Iraq Symphony Orchestra.
She currently lives in Richmond, London with her husband.
This rating is purely based on the impression that this book left on me as a young teen. Between the ages of 12 and 15, I "worked" in my school library. There were numerous benefits; staying inside when it was raining, getting to take out as many books as I liked, and being recommended books by the librarian. The latter part is how I came across this book.
I must have taken this book out of the library half a dozen times. Then, when it was deemed too tatty to remain on the shelves, I got to take it home for good.
While I haven't read this for a long time, it stays with me a lot more than other books I read in those years. I remember being utterly enchanted and thoroughly distressed by the plot in turns, and I would sit reading with a torch under my duvet late into the night, tears absolutely streaming down my face. There were about four different parts of the book that would never fail to make me cry, no matter how much I was prepared for them.
Maybe this wouldn't be a five-star read if I found my ancient copy of this and re-read it. But I'll stick by my rating due to the intense love I used to hold for it.
Red Sky in the morning literally means bad air conditions followed by good weather. The book fits perfectly to its title. But it will take more than this for me to remember a book. I was disappointed at times however the book is good enough for its ratings...
Anna Peacock, a bright, though unaccepted girl tells the tale of her life with a younger disabled brother. Her story begins when she is twelve and ends when she's fifteen. It emphasizes on how hard she tries to hide the truth of her brother Ben's appearance from the rest of the world. He is born with hydrocephalus aka water in the brain, a disease that causes head-enlargement in infants. She is deeply embarrassed by this sad truth and keeps him hidden till the day her to-be-best-friend Miranda sees him. As Anna matures, she begins to accept herself as who she truly is and learns to be more than what people see her to be.
There are a few tearful scenes..that are spoilers so I 'm zipped. But it's a good book for kids, just a small note of precaution: There are scenes where there is talk of divorces and unfaithfulness and basically light parts of that whole package. It also talks about toxic friends and the better ones who are like family. Anna also learns to take responsibility and helps shoulder her parents' financial issues by tipping in and getting a Saturday job. Although if you are sure you can handle it, it's a agreeable novel.
It's slightly fast-forward but acceptable for a 253 paged novel. Moreover, a satisfying read for eleven year olds. Hope you enjoy reading!
Positives: - The preface was quite shocking and really made me feel for the author and what they must have gone through. It also meant that the experiences that were written about were accurate and 100% believable. - The scene where Anna was spending her first wage was a nice teenage moment and the purchase was completely believable. - The writing is simple and easy to follow which makes the book easy to get through. - The book deals with grief very well and the story really makes you feel for the characters and just want things to be ok for them.
Negatives: - The author moved to the UK aged two and was educated in the country up to University level. So, it's strange that the book was written using American English (missing out the letter 'u' in words). - Anna trying to act older than she was, was annoying at times - especially when she was saying things like she was glad she was brought up properly. - It was weird to see Anna considering having a glass of wine when she was apparently only 15 years old. - The story isn't too memorable for me and I don't think I will remember or think about it for a long time after reading this book.
I SO love this book not only because of its noble theme and beautiful language, but also because of the endearing memories I still have for it.I was an 11-year-old volunteer at the school library where I came to find this book. When I started reading it, I simply couldn't stop. It's a heart-warming story about Anna who has recently welcomed a new member of the family, Ben. Unfortunately, this new-born baby suffers from a disability and, eventually, all his family suffers along. Anna gets so attached to Ben but doesn't reveal any of her feelings to her classmates for fear of ridiculing him. To her amazement, all the students sympathize with her and come to love Ben. Family bonds, unconditional love, fear of reaction, & disappointment are some of the issues this novel nicely tackles. It's one of the few books I cried when I finished and read twice in the same month. Maybe if I was given the chance to read it now, I'd not feel all that affection for it. But for the sake of the whole experience, I'd gladly give it 5 stars.
I chose to read this children's book because of its small size. But let me tell you, size is very deceiving when the content engulfs the whole world within its small confines. Red Sky in the Morning is a truly inspirational story about a family which suffers the reality of disorder. It conveys real people, real emotions, and heart-wrenching instances of every day bravery. It can bring tears to your eyes. In addition, it is written beautifully. If any book deserves 5 stars, it's this one.
This is a great book to read when you're having an anxious day and hiding from dinner guests because when someone asks why you're crying you're not lying to say it's because of the book.
When my English teacher asked me to write a book review..my first thought was of this book.I found it very accidentally,picking it randomly..never thinking that it would become one of my ever favorite books.. i actually stumbled upon this site while searching for some information about this book.The life of Anna is ordinary and uninteresting.But ,even though Anna appear to be an ordinary girl..her funny and unique thoughts make her somewhat special..and i just love Ben..and i can see Katy too..I think that is the best part of the book..you can visualize everyone..they naturally become a part of you..And i remember getting so sad when Ben died and crying as if he was my brother too.And the part where Katy gives her bambi is just so..original.Its jut what a child would have done.I have never before heard about Elizabeth Liard.But maam,just this one of your book gae me inspiration and respect for you.Whenever i feel down or bored i pick the book and i can tell you..i have never got tired of it!
A wonderful story of a girl growing up with the extra depth that comes from facing adversity. In Anna's case the adversity is through having a brother born profoundly disabled and loving him deeply then losing him unexpectedly. The insightful clarity that these issues gives Anna about how other people she knows do what they do and even why she does what she does makes great reading as we follow along as Anna grows from girl to young adult.