David Whish-Wilson’s latest novel The Sawdust House is a highly engaging, deeply immersive account of a life story that seems too incredible to have been largely overlooked until now. James ‘Yankee’ Sullivan escaped from brutal servitude in colonial Australia to become a celebrated boxer in America and much more besides. The account of his many triumphs and tragedies – as recounted by Yankee himself to an American journalist just before his execution in San Francisco – transports readers all over the world and across a fascinating emotional landscape.
The Sawdust House is truly a testament to Whish-Wilson’s proficiency as a writer – the dialogue-driven interview style is deceptively simple and instantly believable. The reader is immediately transported into that dark and dingy prison cell, sitting alongside Yankee as he recounts his life. Lovers of historical fiction and transcendent storytelling are in for a real treat in The Sawdust House, a departure in style for Whish-Wilson and one that he has pulled off with masterful precision.