Set in the early 19th century in the American mid-West, the novel is narrated by Yip Tolroy, who is looking back at his life, writing with three fingers on a slate. By the time Yip reaches his fifteenth year he has not spoken a word - he is mute, friendless, an outcast. He grows up left to his own devices by pretty much the entire town, until a kind old man teaches him to read. My name is Yip “ is so beautifully written, even though some of it is difficult to read due to man’s inhumanity to man, nevertheless, it’s a cracking adventure story set in the lawless 19th century Mid West, amidst the Georgia gold rush - a tale of courage, struggle, hope and comradeship.

Mute but eloquent, Yip comes thrillingly into our midst to unfurl his singular and singing book of revelations. A giddily imaginative picaresque steeped in the cinematic idiosyncrasies of the American frontier, Crewe's epic debut is the rollicking coming-of-age of a mute drifter on the run from a terrible crime.Both an entertaining tale of gold, murder and the impulse for revenge, and a tender coming-of-age story amid the lawlessness of the American frontier. The characters of Dud and Yip are well crafted and I wish he would have done a little more with “Mama”. His debut novel My Name is Yip has been shortlisted for the Betty Trask, the Wilbur Smith, a South Bank Sky Arts Awards, and the Society of Authors' First Novel Award, and longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize. The story has its fair share of poltroons, miscreants, and ne'er do wells, which is always a plus for me.

With its colorful description of people and places, comic backbone, and compelling narrator, My Name Is Yip is a bold adventure––a gripping tale of courage, struggle, hope, and brotherhood––that reckons with the seductive pull of the American South and its dark and complex histories. I love the compelling narrator, somehow a cross between Charles Dickens's David Copperfield and Charles Portis's Mattie Ross. As a teenager, events catapault him into a life on the run which lead to a series of adventures and run-ins with numerous colourful and often dangerous characters. Occasionally during the memoir, he refers to his present life to remind us that he did get through it. One October night in the small town of Heron's Creek, Georgia, Yip Tolroy is born, the cord snaked around his fragile neck, his skin a deathly white.One of those rare reads that we’ve all experienced, the kind that leaves us with a sense of loss, a kind of “What do I read after this? It’s also a rollicking, page-turning wild west adventure, populated by a cast of arresting grotesques, with luminous imagery and an unforgettable protagonist. It is almost unique in the way the story is told (through the words of a fourteen year old mute) but is beautifully told in nineteenth century Georgia dialect. However, the multitude of events and characters painted a colourful and brutal picture of the American Midwest.

Parrick, he was not one to waste his words but spoke of my demise as plainly as of some turn in the weather. Mute but eloquent,Yip comes thrillingly into our midst to unfurl his singular and singing book of revelations. This is violent, anarchic American history with echoes of Sebastian Barry's Days Without End , but Paddy Crewe's take is startlingly original. I thought I would really like this book, it checks off so many items of interest, but I couldn't feel or muster any connection to what I was reading, unfortunately. I really liked the way Yip talked about how powerful having written words was for him, it was really beautiful.And, as Yip and Dud’s odyssey takes them further into the unknown – via travelling shows, escaped slaves and the greed of gold-hungry men – the pull of home only gets stronger. The style of writing is something special, it takes a while to get into and you either like it or not. It's got the diction (King James Bible minus all grammar), it's got a frame story of an older, wiser narrator looking back on his youth, and it's filthy - as in grit, grime, grease and legions of unwashed bodies. But while there are pleasures (and horrors too) in this picaresque of a plot, its real power lies in Yip’s distinctive voice. This, for me, is one of the most surprising and satisfying elements of the novel, and makes me think that the book heralds a great talent.