Pigeon English

LoveReading Says

April 2012 Guest Editor Paul Torday on Pigeon English...

I loved this novel of an innocent Ghanaian child who comes with his mother to England and then gets caught up in the gang life of a suburban wilderness somewhere in south London.  What I most admire about the book is the way the author gets across the voice of the child narrator. The tension between the young boy’s innocence and the gang language he learns to speak without really understanding the awful bleakness of gang culture, make this a very moving and convincing read.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011.

Shortlisted for the Galaxy New Writer of the Year Award 2011.

Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2011.

Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2011.

A story of innocence and experience, hope and harsh reality, Pigeon English is a spellbinding portrayal of a boy balancing on the edge of manhood and of the forces around him that try to shape the way he falls.  It's also deeply funny, moving, idiosyncratic and unforgettable and introduces a major new literary talent.

Reviewed by Sarah Broadhurst
Sarah Broadhurst spent her early working life in the book trade in both retail and wholesale until the arrival of children forced her to look for freelance work she could do from…
More reviews by Sarah Broadhurst

About Pigeon English

Eleven-year-old Harrison Opoku is the second best runner in the whole of Year 7. Harri races through his new life in England in his Adidas trainers -- blissfully unaware of the threats around him. With equal fascination for the local gang -- the Dell Farm Crew -- and the pigeon who visits his balcony, Harri absorbs the many strange elements of his new home: watching, listening, and learning the tricks of inner-city survival.

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