Meir shalev a pigeon and a boy

The acclaimed Israeli writer Meir Shalev published his award-winning novel A Pigeon and a Boyin 2006. Translated into English by Evan Fallenberg the following year, the novel follows the twin stories of a homing pigeon handler during the 1948 War of Independence, when Israel was formed during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine; and also of a middle-aged man in contemporary times, who tries to figure out where and how to belong.

The novel stresses the theme of finding one’s home – like the homing pigeons, which do so unerringly, the characters are trying to get to the places where they will feel at peace.

Although the novel tells the stories of its two main characters in alternating chapters, this summary will focus on each separately.

A boy whose nickname is “the Baby” grows up on a kibbutz, learning how to handle pigeons on the farm.

When he is older, he moves to the big city of Tel Aviv, where he meets “the Girl,” another pigeon trainer at the Z