Five titles narrated by a character on the outside looking in

Paddy Crewe was born in Stockton-on-Tees in 1991. He studied at Goldsmiths, University of London.

My Name Is Yip is his first novel.

At Lit Hub Crewe tagged "five books narrated by a character who is always on the outside looking in," including:

Rose Tremain, Restoration

Tremain’s narrator, Robert Merivel, is in his pomp in the reign of King Charles II. Merivel is all wit and charm, until his hedonsitic lifestyle brings his name into disrepute, and he’s ignominiously cast out of the court. It’s a narrative that could, in less expert hands, simply be a trite exercise in pointing out the various pitfalls of avarice and lust. But
Merivel’s downfall and subsequent fight for redemption is a much more complex affair. His suffering is no different to the reader’s suffering, and made no less meaningful by the absurdity of his circumstances. This, ultimately, is down to Tremain’s treatment of history in a broader sense. Like all good writers of historical fiction, Tremain refuses to treat the past as distant or inflexible; it is close, immediate, just below the surface. And so Merivel doesn’t suffer from the staid conventions of some of his fellow creations in other novels of the period. Despite the myriad differences between the 17th century and modernity, Merivel remains a relatable figure, one whose loneliness is every bit as real as our own.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue