My Name is Yip: Shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize

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Yip's folksy voice may not appeal, may actually irritate some readers (it worked for me) and be warned that the novel does have its fair share of violence. Yip is forced to appear in a cage, into which punters pour drink and abuse, only to be rescued once again by Dud.

Owen Meany meets Days Without End meets Django Unchained…although comparing My Name is Yip with these titles may be a bit too much praise. Mama could barely look at him, but they muddled along, each in their own separate bubble of existence. The American Mid West, October 1815, and Yip Tolroy announces his entry into the world in complete silence, with a cord wrapped around his tiny neck. This rip roaring, page-turning historical adventure yarn is an accomplished and assured debut novel. Parrick, he was not one to waste his words but spoke of my demise as plainly as of some turn in the weather.

Once you get used to it, it reads very easily though - it is very consistently maintained throughout the novel. I love the compelling narrator , somehow a cross between Charles Dickens's David Copperfield and Charles Portis's Mattie Ross. Thank you to the publishers for this review copy, now it is a western - so it's not really my go to read, but this is very well written debut.

I had thought this book was historical fiction, but it was more of fiction than realistic or historical.

Laird Hunt, author of Neverhome * My Name is Yip is a thrilling adventure story brim-full of humour, strangeness and charm * Ian McGuire, Booker Prize longlisted author of The North Water * A rollicking picaresque.

This book tells a story which is both moving and filled with some really emotional moments, and punctuated with a sprinkling of humour, which lighten some of the tougher moments. It is full of lively characters, the action really picks up as the novel advances and it is quite atmospheric in its early 19th century Western-Gold Rush setting. Gold is discovered nearby, and Yip commits a grievous crime that leaves him with no choice but to flee. The representation of charming travelling circus manager, Jim Coyne, draws sneakily from Fagan, the supposed protector of Oliver Twist. I thought the novel started out a bit slow and dry, and it took me a few chapters to get used to the narrator’s voice.Purporting to be the written account of Yip’s adventures narrated from the comfort of later life, it explores a society in flux, one about to turn its back on religion and embrace greed and individualism. However, the multitude of events and characters painted a colourful and brutal picture of the American Midwest. This is violent, anarchic American history with echoes of Sebastian Barry's Days Without End, but Paddy Crewe's take is startlingly original. 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. 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.