posted on 03 Aug 2016

Red Sky in the Morning by Elizabeth Laird

I came across this book by chance in a charity shop and am very glad that I did. The multi award winning author, Elizabeth Laird has written many wonderful books for children and Young Adults and also interpretations of folk tales for adults. Inspired by living and working in many places such as Malaysia, India, Iraq, The Lebanon and Ethiopia, she has a reputation for writing about sometimes controversial subjects such as war, child abuse and disability in a sensitive but entertaining manner. Her author statement on The British Council website explains that whatever the issue she is writing about and wherever the setting, she always focuses on the bigger 'themes of courage, endurance, forgiveness and love' 

This one is about fifteen year old Anna who looks back on the way in which the birth of her brother Benedict when she was twelve, changed her life. Written in the first person, the story begins dramatically with her vivid memory of his very difficult home birth as she is downstairs in a small house trying to be helpful in the background and trying to make sense of what she hears and sees. The baby is eventually born with severe brain damage and so he is rushed urgently to hospital in an incubator. When he is brought back home after a while, Anna meets him for the first time and is thoroughly charmed. A lot of the subsequent story is about how he becomes central to her life and spending time with him makes up for having a bad time at school, worrying about school work, lack of confidence about her appearance, falling in and out of friendships, getting interested in boys and everything else that dominates the lives of most young teenagers.

She becomes fiercely protective of Benedict and learns to defend him against the inevitable pitying looks when people react to his over large head and obvious multiple disabilities. She spends an increasing amount of time with him, getting to know his capabilities and patiently teaching him new skills. She starts to take him out in her local community and learns to be proud of him, partly through the encouraging down to earth advice from the local shopkeeper, Mrs Chapman who gives her a part time job. Later in the story, Anna gets to know another little girl, Jackie who has Downs Syndrome and is able to form a strong relationship that includes helping her to become more independent.

What I liked about this book is that being a big sister to Benedict is absolutely central to the plot but doesn't dominate. It is essentially a story about how a family has to learn to live with unexpected circumstances and how these can fracture relationships, at least temporarily. Her parents cope with their new responsibilities very differently and her annoying younger sister, Katie becomes even more irritating as the needs of the new baby mean that the focus of attention has shifted from her. The adult characters sometimes make some bad decisions which are not dodged at all, and this makes them more human and three dimensional. 

It is a coming of age story where a self- deprecating Anna shows herself to be very capable and wise beyond her years. She is not perfect by any means, makes mistakes and doesn't always handle situations in the most diplomatic way. She can be quite judgmental and intolerant at times but by the end of the story she has become a much kinder more empathetic person. I have always been a fan of well- meaning children in literature like Alice, Pollyanna, Anne of Green Gables and William Brown. Like these more well- known characters, Anna is flawed but is essentially kind and generous, so I am very glad to discover her and her story.

Karen Argent

August 2016