Fagin the Thief - by Allison Epstein (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Thrilling." --The New York Times Book Review

Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scrounging a life for himself in the dark alleys of nineteenth-century London. Born in the Jewish enclave of Stepney after his father was executed for theft, Jacob grows up with his mother, Leah. But his prospects are altered when a seasoned pickpocket teaches him a trade that pays better than an honest living ever could.

Striking out on his own, Jacob familiarizes himself with London's wealthiest neighborhoods while forging a path in the shadows. Everything changes when he adopts aspiring teenage thief Bill Sikes, whose mercurial temper poses a danger to himself and anyone foolish enough to cross him. Along the way, Jacob's found family expands to include his closest friend, Nancy, and his protégé, the Artful Dodger. But when a major robbery goes awry, Jacob is forced to decide what he stands for--and what a life is worth. With colorfully wicked humor, Allison Epstein reclaims one of Victorian literature's most notorious villains in an unforgettable new adventure.

Review Quotes

"An empathetic saga of troubled souls struggling to survive in an uncaring and unpromising world. Fagin the Thief is an impressive achievement" --The Wall Street Journal

"Thrilling . . . Epstein . . . has created a deeply nuanced character, understandable if not wildly sympathetic, a loner who has learned a tragic lesson." --The New York Times Book Review

"A sorrowful, reflective novel, pockmarked with episodes of real insight and beauty . . . I slipped straight through it, as its title character might slip through a crowd in London's Haymarket, scoping out an unwitting target." --The Washington Post

"Fagin the Thief takes one of literature's greatest rogues and gives him a soul, a backstory, and a spotlight. Layered and clever, Epstein's story is as ambitious as it is deeply satisfying." --Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions for You

"Magnificent . . . Epstein's Fagin, rarely admirable but surprisingly sympathetic, is an unforgettable creation, and her vibrant secondary characters and depictions of Victorian London add to the novel's power. Dickens's fans and critics alike will love this." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Epstein captures the bravado and vulnerabilities of Jacob's motley crew of orphans, and the gritty ambience of the alleys, cellars, and seedy pubs they inhabit. She brings to her portrait of Fagin--and even Sikes--a tenderness and empathy that renders them as palpable: men, haunted by loss, longing to be loved. . . a riveting narrative." --Kirkus, starred review

"Gripping and atmospheric . . . Epstein paints a vivid picture of seedy lower-class London, worthily succeeding Dickens's own." --Shelf Awareness, starred review

"Epstein has created a character much more memorable than Dickens' original. She takes the basic history and allows the reader to see it through a different perspective, one that's much more interesting and nuanced--and a lot more fun to read." --New York Journal of Books

"Epstein transforms Dickens' morality tale to a complex exploration of the life of an underdog that invites us to question the pat answers Dickens provided . . . and the complex ways people are shaped by their own traumas." --Chicago Review of Books

"Allison Epstein's vivid historical fiction retelling of Oliver Twist gives the villainous Fagin the thrilling, heartwrenching origin story the character has long deserved, and shines some necessary light on the dark corners that the original Charles Dickens' tale was all too content to ignore." --Paste

"In . . . Allison Epstein's greatly imaginative retelling of Oliver Twist, it's left to the reader to wrestle with their verdict. . . an empowering, humanizing portrayal." --BookPage

"Historical fiction at its finest: gripping prose, a morally gray protagonist, a loveable cast, and a city that is a character all its own. Fagin the Thief drew me into the dark underbelly of Victorian London and took me on an unforgettable journey--and somewhere along the way, it stole my heart, too." --Genevieve Gornichec, bestselling author of The Witch's Heart

"Epstein deftly addresses Oliver Twist's longstanding 'Fagin problem, ' not by sanitizing or disowning him, as other adaptations have done, but by lending him a humanity that Dickens's caricature did not. It's a lively, finely drawn reimagining and a deeply reverent corrective of a literary monument." --Library Journal

"The magic of Epstein's writing [is] that she truly humanizes figures who were once caricatures, and arguably gives them each a more satisfyingly realistic ending than the ones Dickens condemned them to." --Criminal Element

"Allison Epstein allows us to rethink [Fagin] by giving us a fuller, more fully human version of the man. . . Epstein's courage is to be admired" --Washington Independent Review of Books

"A wonderful and penetrating character study . . . transfixing . . . a marvelous novel." --Bookreporter

"Clever . . . a lov­ing­ly ren­dered, insight­ful sto­ry" --Jewish Book Council

"Historical fiction fans, rejoice! . . . In Epstein's new novel, she puts Fagin at the forefront, reimagining Dickens' work through the eyes of a Jewish man looking to make a name for himself on the streets of London in the wake of his father's death." --Polygon

"A gripping retelling of Dickens's Oliver Twist, unpredictable and full of twists and turns; it kept me hooked, and it also kept me guessing! It's also a sensitively drawn portrait of one of literature's most maligned characters." --Flora Carr, author of The Tower

"Heart-wrenching and delicious and impossible to put down, Fagin the Thief does for Fagin what Wicked did for The Wicked Witch of the West. Allison Epstein is absolutely at the top of her game." --Julia Fine, author of Maddalena and the Dark

"A haunted look at the loneliness of Victorian London's underworld. Epstein's rogues and thieves are at once tenderly imagined and savagely cruel, carving out precarious lives in the shadow of the gallows and the jail. Clever, cowardly, soft-hearted and selfish all at once, Jacob Fagin sheds the constraints of his original story and demands the right to speak for himself." --Celia Bell, author of The Disenchantment

"A mesmerizing and deeply nuanced retelling, with a complex and utterly unforgettable protagonist at its heart--Fagin the Thief is a remarkable achievement." --Natasha Siegel, author of The Phoenix Bride

"It takes a very brave or supremely talented author to reimagine one of Dickens' greatest characters; luckily Allison Epstein is both. Her Fagin is a captivating, complex, deeply human character adrift in a London that's as richly described and grittily alive as Dickens' own city." --Mat Osman, author of The Ghost Theatre

"In a gritty feast of a book which transports readers into Victorian London's seedy underground, Epstein weaves together a brutal and defiant tale of survival against all odds." --Laura R. Samotin, author of The Sins On Their Bones

"Epstein skillfully blends humor, tragedy, and suspense while authentically capturing the darker side of nineteenth-century London. . . A glorious must-read." --Denny S. Bryce, author of The Other Princess

"A fantastic reimagining of Oliver Twist, with compelling writing and masterful characterisation. I loved it." --Katie Lumsden, author of The Secrets of Hartwood Hall

"I've longed for a retelling of Fagin's life, and Allison Epstein, in possession of a deep knowledge of history and a rare talent for characterization, is the perfect one to take on this story." -CrimeReads

"Allison Epstein revitalizes the universe of one of Dickens' most famous works . . . with Fagin the Thief, Epstein complicates the character's narrative" --BookBrowse

"Fagin the Thief shifts the story to the master-thief's perspective without totally defanging it. Epstein gives Fagin depth and complexity but does not sugar-coat his conniving character, nor does she ignore the antisemitism that dominated Dickens' time." --The Forward

"Jacob is, above all, a human being rather than a fanciful stereotype. I was thoroughly transported to the mean streets of 19th-century London in this absorbing character study." --The Historical Novel Review

"Fagin . . . is given new depth in Allison Epstein's Fagin the Thief. . . Epstein pays tribute to the grand storytelling and high drama of Dickens' works." --Screen Rant

About the Author