This is a beautifully written book but it is hard hitting in places. It is a great historical adventure story set in the mid west. It is brilliant for a debut novel

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.

I really felt for Yip, being born at the time that he was, with all of his differences. The book highlighted the unjust treatment of people who don't look the same as everyone else, and it was sad to see some of what Yip was put through.

I enjoyed this book greatly.

Through the course of his story, Yip Tolroy finds out who he is and who he isn’t. ‘My Name is Yip’ by Paddy Crewe is a historical novel with a difference, a first person narrative about an extraordinary, ordinary, boy and what he learns about friendship.
Yip is 4 ft 8 in tall and unable to speak. His father disappeared on the night of Yip’s birth and so he and his mother muddle along together. He is assumed by everyone who lives in Heron’s Creek to be slow, with no understanding of what is going on around him. But the opposite is true. Yip watches and learns. He is a great observer. He is fifteen when old gentleman Shelby Stubbs recognises Yip’s intelligence, teaches him to read and write and presents him with a portable slate and chalk which Yip uses to communicate. A new world opens up before him but he must find the courage to take the first step.
The voice at first seemed awkward, but by the third or fourth page I knew this was Yip’s own voice and the awkwardness disappeared. Yip has a clear sense of right and wrong, of kindness and cruelty. As a growing child, he sits on a stool beneath a tree outside his mother’s store and watches the world go by. Until events conspire to change his world. Set in Georgia in 1830, gold is discovered near Heron’s Creek, a man disappears and Yip commits a crime. He goes on the run with a newcomer in town, Dud Carter; a man Yip has only seen once before. ‘A tall gangly figure with a crop of hair what the rain had plastered to his short forehead.’ These unlikely companions go on a road trip, with Yip’s constant horse Gussie, facing trials and danger, learning about themselves, each other and the things man is capable of doing to man.
This is an original story with an everyman message about being true to yourself. As Yip says at the end, ‘You got to keep yourself whole & be who it was you was set here to be.’
Very different. Don’t miss it.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

What an outstanding storyline. If I could give it ten stars, I would.

Yip Tolroy was born mute. He spent his entire life unable to make any sounds and never grew beyond four feet eight inches. He also is completely hairless. However, he has a spirit that refused to be shut down by the world. Thanks to the remarkably kind elderly Shelby Stubbs, Yip is taught to read and write, using chalk and a slate which he keeps in a bag, the strap always around his neck.

Shelby Stubbs opened the world to Yip. He was able to communicate with others and as a result, managed to have some awesome adventures throughout his life. Granted, some endangered his life but thanks to his resolute ways to always survive he overcame the obstacles life put in his path.

I honestly don’t understand why the publishers never launched this novel as one of the most beautifully written books of 2022. The author, Paddy Crewe, uses the most descriptive words imaginable – I wish I could share them all in this review but then, dear reader, you may not go out and purchase the book.

Paddy Crewe, I loved the storyline. I loved Yip Tolroy. Your writing is mesmerising, and I hope that I soon have the privilege of reading your next book.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

The premise is heart-rending - a young boy who is mute is left to fend for himself by most of his community. Until one day, a compassionate elderly man teaches him to read. Yip grows more confident and blossoms under this guidance.

This is a lovely read. I enjoy historical fiction and this era was a new one for me to delve into. I not only enjoyed reading it, but I also felt like I learnt a lot because it was so thoroughly researched and had a plot that was very engaging.

4★
“No hair ever growed on my head or nowhere else, no dark shock nested in my armpits or lined in bristling ceremony upon my upper lip.”

Yip Tolroy is one of the most unusual characters, in both senses of the word, that I have come across. As a fictional protagonist, I think he is unique. In real life, perhaps there has been, or is, someone like him, but when he was born in 1815. his small hometown of Heron’s Creek had never seen anything like him.

Neither had the doctor who attended the prolonged and violent birth.

“It was no surprise then that Dr. Whit Parrick, our town’s only practitioner at that time, should steer my daddy toward the cool shadows of the parlor & there inquire after the integrity of our spade, warning it would likely be put to use by nightfall. Dr. Parrick, he was not one to waste his words but spoke of my demise as plainly as of some turn in the weather.”

That was the last anyone saw of his daddy. He shot out the door and disappeared. Meanwhile, the doctor went to the tavern and pronounced that the Tolroy boy would only ever be a simpleton.

His mother cared for him the best she could and soon realised that something else was wrong. He made no sound. Not a groan or a cry. When they tested his reactions, he writhed and squirmed and was in obvious pain but was completely silent.

He remains mute and small, growing to a height of 4’8” (142cm).

Yip tells his own wild story as a memoir, so we know he survives. His mother runs a general store, and he likes to sit under a big elm outside on a stool and watch, contemplate, plan. He is accepted as belonging there, but few people make serious attempts to communicate with him.

One day, an old fellow, a newcomer to town, stops to visit with Yip under his elm tree.

“There is certain moments in a soul’s existence what do not arrive under any bugle or banner but sidle up as Innocent & Meek-mouthed as a short-horned cow. Only they is not so ordinary as they hope to seem but loaded up to the gills with all manner of Meanings & Implications what will play out in their wake.

It was in this the early summer of my sixth yr my life did take a turn I could not have foreseed.”

Shelby Stubbs becomes a mentor, teacher, and friend.

“Said he, I have a notion you might like to read, boy. Disbelieving, I pointed at myself.

Enough of all that pointing, boy, said Stubbs. You will not need any such poxy signs once I am done with you. If you are to mark your permanence and have yourself heard in this world, then there is only one way to do it.”

I just want to give you a feel for the flow of his thoughts and language. There are no quotation marks, but I didn’t even notice that until I began to copy something. It’s easy to follow. The language reminds me, a bit of how I think of Huckleberry Finn talking.

I don’t know if the capitalisation is based on a particular era or is peculiar to Yip. Some languages (German) capitalise nouns. I think some old writing capitalises Important Words. Yip does make his point in that way when he uses capital letters.

He has some terrifying adventures, is chased, hunted, and captured. He is kept in squalid conditions and treated appallingly (to put it mildly) and carted all over the countryside. Some of this makes pretty rough reading.

He does have one good friend who addresses him affectionately as Old Salt, unlike others who call him little man.

Occasionally during the memoir, he refers to his present life to remind us that he did get through it. Mostly for me, it reads like some of the old Western mountain men and trapper books that I used to love, but Yip has a tone and spirit of his own.

Incidentally, I see the advertising material refers to it taking place in Georgia during the Georgia Gold Rush, but there is no reference in my preview copy to Georgia, and the Gold Rush isn’t really central to much of his story.

I loved the voice and the stylised writing. I also enjoyed the settings and sense of the times. There were places where the story seemed to slow down, which is really my only negative comment. I'm not likely to forget Yip in a hurry. 😊

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Transworld or the copy for review.

An unusual main character and an interesting historical setting but I found the language style quite difficult and therefore couldn't recommend to my non-native-English students.

This is an adventure novel told from the perspective of a mute boy, Yip Tolroy. He grows up left to his own devices by pretty much the entire town until a kind old man teaches him to read. This is a very good, solid read. I love historical fiction, especially when it is about eras/ situations that I previously knew nothing about and this was definitely one of those books. It was so well researched and so compelling in its narrative that not only did I love reading it but I felt that I learned too. A really enjoyable read and perfect for any fans of historical fiction. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

I sadly had to DNF this book as I really was struggling with the writing style.
I really do love the sound of this book so I'll probably try and give it another go at some point.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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. This is an adventure novel told from the perspective of a mute boy, Yip Tolroy. He grows up left to his own devices by pretty much the entire town, until a kind old man teaches him to read. 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.

The style of writing is something special, it takes a while to get into and you either like it or not. An example: <b>My birth it will not surprise your eyes to read was no simple matter. Death was busy that day trying to claim all he could.</b>

Once you get used to it, it reads very easily though - it is very consistently maintained throughout the novel.

I would be hesitant to describe this as an extremely interesting or innovative novel. But it was a good story and I had fun and sometimes that is good enough. 3,5.

This debut novel was a difficult read. The author captures the inner voice of the more protagonist Yip and the lawless American frontier society. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I was unable to read this story due to the fractured English in which it was written., This proved to be too distracting to be able to follow the story.

Yip is born with the chord wrapped around his neck, he grows up very short, totally hairless and mute. Life in the American Historical West was not easy for anyone and was even harder for Yip, especially as he had to leave his home town in a rush.
I found this a difficult book to read, firstly because it is written in idiomatic English, i.e. poor grammar, spelling, just as an uneducated youngster of the things would speak - if you don't like this then this isn't the book for you. Secondly Yip's story is very hard, with abuse both from those around him and strangers. Read through these though and the story itself is very different and ultimately hooked me, much to my surprise. There is room for a follow up book in this series and I would like to read that as well, which when I started the book wouldn't have been the case, so this is a book worth persevering with.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

What an unusual story. About a mute boy as he moves through the different chapters of his life. I love how the story was written in the vernacular. It gave a real feel for the simple life which Yip led.
As his adventures unfold, we learn more about what brought him to this point in his life. Some things which happen to him are scary and one can imagine, painful. One episode, extremely claustrophobic. Always though, he believes everything will work out for him eventually. We do share some of his Rites of Passage as he grows into a man and his adventures in the time of gold panning in the States, bring him full circle.
The ending felt sad but I think, forced him to stand on his own two feet to face the life he eventually chose to live.
A very easy to read book, a first novel for the author and well worth a try.

An extraordinary tale of a boy who can’t speak making his way in a harsh and brutal world in the Wild West. Yip is the narrator, it is his unique voice and he keeps up a steady stream of thoughts and observations. Parts of this were too brutal for me to read but that was life for those who settled at that time and there is a hopefulness at times. This is a unique and memorable debut.

A morally complex adventure set in a “difficult” part of America’s history.

This is a well-researched novel set in Virginia and Tennessee when they were still frontier states, around 1830. This is not a very popular era for American authors and screenwriters at the moment, perhaps because it’s before slavery was widely seen as wrong in America but well after the point where the British could be blamed for all evil. At no point is any form of professional law-enforcement encountered by anyone in the story and I think that is probably quite authentic. The main protagonist, the “Yip” of the title has a very strong sense of right and wrong, of kindness and cruelty. His sidekick, Dud Carter, has a more flexible idea or right and wrong, but is still capable of kindness and selfless bravery. But the terms “legal” and “illegal” simply do not occur. Neither does any form of paper money play any role. The scene is set for pure adventure, where happiness is always something in the future, after cruelty, danger and tragedy have been faced.

Yip is mute since birth and all his life, but he learns to read and write and this gives him a voice which some of his illiterate neighbours do not have. Slavery and racism are starkly depicted, but the reality is that master and slave are defined by social convention because the law, which did allow slavery on paper, is completely absent from everyday life and people do what they have the strength to get away with and they tend to test that limit until they meet someone stronger. Handicapped or disadvantaged white people can be and are exploited as ruthlessly as black ones.

Gold is discovered and the first consequence is a brutal murder, which sets a trend. The inevitable gold-rush attracts many desperate people, because this is not a society where paper money, bank accounts and abstract concepts of wealth have any standing at all. Everybody hopes to get rich, but even if substantial amounts of gold were there to be discovered, there are simply too many hands at work for anyone much to be better off than they would have been if they had stuck to their old jobs.

The single-minded desperation of so many people in a tiny town with almost no resources other than the promise of gold, where there is no regulation or law enforcement, cannot possibly end well and happiness (and sanity) can be found only by Yip turning his back on his home town and the gold-rush and walking away.

This is a bit of a cowboy adventure story, with a twist. The main character, Yip, is mute, short of stature and completely hairless. He suffers great loss and cruelty but his spirit is undaunted, The style of writing, in Yip's voice, takes some getting used to. A quirky and original novel from a young author.

“It is an ugly truth, the day of my birth is fettered to an event for which there is no cause to celebrate”
“Death was busy that day trying to claim all he could”.


Yip Tolroy, being mute, may not have a voice in the conventional sense of the word, but he makes himself heard in the very essence of his character, in this wonderful debut novel, that in itself yells to be heard!

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. Yip survived but he was mute, not a sound left his mouth from the day he was born, he was also extremely tiny in stature, and didn’t have a single hair on his body.

He was an object of ridicule and fear, with other children running away from him, which forced him to keep himself to himself, passing his time beneath the old elm tree that he loved. He lived with his Mama in the little town of Heron’s Creek, Georgia. It wasn’t the best of lives, his Mama, an independent but troubled woman, never showed him any affection, and his father took off the day Yip was born, never to return. Mama could barely look at him, but they muddled along, each in their own separate bubble of existence. He expected he would live like that for the rest of his days, however, Yip is about to go on a journey - it wouldn’t have been one of his own choosing, but when gold is discovered in the area, Yip commits a crime that forces him to go on the run in the unlikely company of one Dud Carter. He leaves behind the only life he’s ever known, and embarks on a hazardous journey filled with menace and violence, experiencing firsthand a travelling show and it’s evil and cruel owner, escaped slaves, and men who care for nothing and no one, as they worship their only God - gold!

Well here it is, one of those books that just yearns to be heard, in much the same way as it’s protagonist Yip Tolroy. 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? “

“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. Based on this terrific debut novel, I believe author Paddy Crewe, has a glittering future to look forward to!

During the 1800’s in the American west Yip begins his adventures.
Yip is an original character, unlucky in some ways, but circumstances also conspire against him. A travelling showman plays a part as do escaped slaves and the infamous gold rush.
A fresh perspective on growing up in a dangerous era is welcome, if brutal at times.