A brilliantly original voice-driven debut story of courage, friendship and adventure through the wonders and horrors of the American frontier .
'Singular and singing...Paddy Crewe has a 24-carat gift.' Sebastian Barry
My name is Yip Tolroy & I am a mute.
I have made not a sound since the day of my birth, October 2nd, 1815. I have led a life filled with wonder & misery both.
Fatherless and friendless, at fourteen years old Yip is no more than chest-high to anyone in his small town, a slate and chalk his only way of talking.
Everyone stares, but nobody thinks he has anything to say.
But then gold is discovered nearby, and Yip commits a grievous crime. In the company of a new and unlikely comrade, Dud Carter, he must leave town, on a journey that will introduce them to the wonder and horror of the American frontier, and learn to make his voice heard.
