My Name is Yip cover art

My Name is Yip

An epic Western for fans of Lonesome Dove, Blood Meridian and True Grit

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The year is 1815. 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. As his mother still lies in the blood-slicked sheets, and Yip takes his first gulps of air, his father disappears without trace. By the time Yip reaches his fifteenth year he has not spoken a word - he is mute, friendless, an outcast. But his life is about to change irrevocably.

Gold is discovered nearby, and Yip commits a grievous crime that leaves him with no choice but to flee. In the company of a new and unlikely comrade, Dud Carter, Yip must take to the road, embarking on a journey that will thrust him unwittingly into a world of menace and violence, of lust and revenge. 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...

'Singular and singing...Paddy Crewe has a 24-carat gift' Sebastian Barry

© Paddy Crewe 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

This is violent, anarchic American history with echoes of Sebastian Barry's Days Without End, but Paddy Crewe's take is startlingly original... Yip's tale is immersive and beautiful in unexpected places. On the strength of this sensational debut, you will be hearing a lot more about Paddy Crewe.
Paddy Crewe's ambitious, cinematic debut novel set during Georgia's gold rush in a semi-mythic American south that recalls both Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses and Faulkner's Light in August... A rollicking, page-turning wild west adventure, populated by a cast of arresting grotesques, with luminous imagery and an unforgettable protagonist... A remarkably vivid and energetic debut novel; a consummate linguistic performance.
Recalls the first-person conjuration of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang and the brutality and lyricism of Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses... A thrilling bildungsroman adventure, full of reversals of fortune and getaways.
Bold and impressive... This is a book with a distinct rhythm. The timbre of Yip's voice and the constant movement of characters through desolate landscapes creates an energy that seduces the reader. Crewe is an author of huge imaginative range.
My Name is Yip is so utterly itself and vivid. I haven't read anything quite like it. A mesmeric and rollicking adventure told by a narrator like no other - one who beguiles, moves, delights and also had me so worried for him, I was on the edge of my seat. Bold, thrilling, beautifully conceived and deeply atmospheric. I can't recommend it enough. Superb to the last full stop.
Mute but eloquent, Yip comes thrillingly into our midst to unfurl his singular and singing book of revelations. Murder, gold, lost fathers... Paddy Crewe has a 24-carat gift
Magnificent. My Name is Yip is a sheer joy. What a voice, what a story. Yip is an incredible character, up there with Owen Meany and Holden Caulfield for sheer unforgettableness. It's a glorious novel.
Yip Tolroy may not speak, but his voice soars off the page in Paddy Crewe's terrific debut novel. 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.
I love the compelling narrator, somehow a cross between Charles Dickens's David Copperfield and Charles Portis's Mattie Ross. And like True Grit, Yip takes us on a wild ride.
My Name is Yip accelerates into a wild gallop. There are pleasures (and horrors too) in this picaresque of a plot, but its real power lies in Yip's distinctive voice. From his first words he springs from the page, entirely himself and impossible to resist. An exuberant and original debut.
All stars
Most relevant
Simply the most engrossing, well written and fabulously narrated audio book that I've heard this year
I didn't want it to end

Gripping stuff
Do hope Paddy writes another really soon

Outstanding

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This is a jolly good yarn taking our diminutive, silent hero from one catastrophe of the history of the West to the next. Most enjoyable. Excellent story and perfect choice of narrator.

absorbing

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A coming of age set against the historical background of the gold rush. Brilliantly narrated. Loved it.

Great narrator - gripping story

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Story is very interesting and use of language is superb.
The narrator really caught the character and mood for me and made it a most enjoyable listen.
Best book I've listened to it a long time.

Superb book.

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Great narrator and story. Couldn't take my headphones off. Well written and memorable. Will be buying the paperback when available.

loved it!

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