Nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction

'Desperately readable, blackly comic and painful, a delight born of dysfunction.' The Times

Punch, acerbic, sharp-witted and above all accurately 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, Angue and Vic reveal a hellish cocktail of adolescent 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.

'A work of considerable force and maturity.' Daily Telegraph

'Laura Hird's first novel sizzles with brio, gusto, disgust and many other vital signs.' Times Literary Supplement

'A funny, disturbing, remarkably courageous debut.' Guardian

'A darkly funny, quietly despairing snapshot of a family falling apart at the seams.' Uncut

'An exceptional story about unexceptional lives.' The Big Issue

'It's the portrait of a dysfunctional family, sharply observed and told with a mixture of humour and honesty. Hird's ear for dialogue is excellent.' Independent on Sunday