Doubleday pre-empts gold rush debut Yip

Doubleday has acquired literary debut Yip by Paddy Crewe in a "significant" pre-empt.

Commissioning editor Suzanne Bridson bought world English rights from Zoe Waldie at RCW.

Set during the Georgia gold rush, the novel follows 15-year-old mute and social outcast Yip Tolroy, who is forced to leave his small town after witnessing the discovery of gold and committing a grievous crime. "In the company of new and unlikely comrade Dud Carter, he embarks on an odyssey that will introduce them both to the wonder and horror of the American frontier," reads the synopsis.

Brison said: "Yip is a true one-off, at once gripping and moving, and filled with characters that demand your attention and your heart. The voice Paddy has created is totally unique, and irresitible — I cannot think of any book that has so captivated me from the first page."

Crewe began the novel as an undergraduate at Goldsmiths, where writer and critic Erica Wagner was his tutor. Wagner described Crewe as "an extraordinary new talent", saying: "What an astonishing book Yip is! I love this book, everything about it, and want others to love it as I do." She called it "a bold adventure, a gripping tale of courage, struggle, hope and brotherhood that reckons with the seductive pull of the American story — and that country's dark and complex histories, too."

Yip will be published in hardback in spring 2022.