Pigeon English
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| Author | Stephen Kelman |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 2011 (Bloomsbury Publishing) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 978-1408815687 |
Pigeon English is the debut novel by English author Stephen Kelman. It is told from the point of view of Harrison Opoku, an eleven-year-old Ghanaian immigrant living on a tough London estate. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2011.
The novel begins with the death of a young boy on the fictional Dell Farm estate in an unspecified area of London. Harrison Opoku or 'Harri', is a recent Ghanaian immigrant living with his mother and older sister, Lydia. His father, younger sister and grandparents still live in Ghana, though they hope to move in the future. He becomes an amateur detective and tries to solve the murder of a boy who was murdered outside a fast food restaurant. He experiences an extreme amount of gang warfare, immigration to the United Kingdom and poverty. As well as investigating the murder with his best friend Dean, Harrison shares with the reader his thoughts, impressions and experiences of growing up in an environment beset with pressures and threats. The novel explores his attempts to remain good despite the corrupting forces around him. Harrison then befriends a pigeon, which narrates part of the book.
Eventually, he traces the murderers as a gang of teenagers, only to be murdered at the end.
Publication
It was first published in March 2011 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom.