A mesmerizing novel of two love stories, separated by half a century but
connected by one enchanting act of devotion--from the internationally
acclaimed Israeli writer Meir Shalev.
During the 1948 War of Independence--a time when pigeons are still used
to deliver battlefield messages--a gifted young pigeon handler is
mortally wounded. In the moments before his death, he dispatches one
last pigeon. The bird is carrying his extraordinary gift to the girl he
has loved since adolescence. Intertwined with this story is the
contemporary tale of Yair Mendelsohn, who has his own legacy from the
1948 war. Yair is a tour guide specializing in bird-watching trips who,
in middle age, falls in love again with a childhood girlfriend. His
growing passion for her, along with a gift from his mother on her
deathbed, becomes the key to a life he thought no longer possible.
Unforgettable in both its particulars and its sweep, A Pigeon and A
Boy is a tale of lovers then and now--of how deeply we love, of what
home is, and why we, like pigeons trained to fly in one direction only,
must eventually return to it. In a voice that is at once playful, wise,
and altogether beguiling, Meir Shalev tells a story as universal as war
and as intimate as a winged declaration of love.
