Editorial Content for Fagin the Thief
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The sins of his father were visited upon Jacob Fagin, who is born with larceny in his heart. Fagin is raised by his widowed mother, Leah, with whom he has a close relationship. He doesn’t hesitate to stand up for her at any turn. In late-18th-century London, the Fagins live in poverty and under the stigma of the patriarch’s crimes. Young Fagin is viewed as a novelty to the neighborhood kids due to his atypical looks and Jewish faith. Fagin is in his adolescent years when he begins stealing, yet it isn’t until he meets the older and sophisticated Leftwich that he hones pickpocketing into an art.
Fagin is given an education by Leftwich in how to be a world-class sneak thief, and he turns out to be an apt pupil. He pilfers money, watches and food, and he is often left with a small pittance from his mentor. When Leah learns what her only child is doing, she shows him how a life of crime can end only in a trip to the gallows. Despite an initial vow to go straight, the rush from the crime and the allure of the loot is too good to pass up for Fagin.
"Allison Epstein has written a marvelous novel about a tragic figure who is haunted by ghosts yet can’t understand their constant presence."
By the time he is 16, Fagin has lost his mother to a fatal illness, and he is disabused of any benevolence from Leftwich. He must get new lodgings for himself and find ways to make money. He realizes that he doesn’t need a mentor in order to pull off a theft; he just has to rely on his wits and survival skills. By the time he is in his 20s, Fagin has become a renowned educator in purloining and is being sought out for his acumen. One of the people he encounters and nurtures in crime is the boorish Bill Sikes.
Bill hails from an abusive background, and his fate is probably inevitable. His friendship with Fagin is precarious on the best of days, as he never knows how to accept love. Their bond is forged in duplicity and violence hung in the air like the densest of London Fog, and it’s this relationship that lies at the heart of the plot.
FAGIN THE THIEF is a wonderful and penetrating character study of the roguish antihero from the classic “Oliver Twist.” The transfixing narrative begins with Fagin near the peak of his powers, overseeing a youthful gang of ruffians such as the Artful Dodger, and looking to take on young Oliver Twist as a new protégé. The story alternates between the youthful Fagin, who is desperately in need of a father figure, and a wizened Fagin, who lives in fear of the fate his mother once hinted at. Fagin is a study in contrasts. His love for one person often will be outweighed by his need for self-preservation, his cowardice overriding any fits of courage.
Allison Epstein has written a marvelous novel about a tragic figure who is haunted by ghosts yet can’t understand their constant presence.
Teaser
Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of 19th-century London. Born in the Jewish enclave of Stepney shortly after his father was executed as a thief, Jacob's whole world is his open-minded mother, Leah. But Jacob’s prospects are forever altered when a light-fingered pickpocket takes Jacob under his wing and teaches him a trade that pays far better than the neighborhood boys could possibly dream. Striking out on his own, Jacob familiarizes himself with London's highest value neighborhoods while forging his own path in the shadows. But everything changes when he adopts an aspiring teenage thief named Bill Sikes, whose mercurial temper poses a danger to himself and anyone foolish enough to cross him.
Promo
Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of 19th-century London. Born in the Jewish enclave of Stepney shortly after his father was executed as a thief, Jacob's whole world is his open-minded mother, Leah. But Jacob’s prospects are forever altered when a light-fingered pickpocket takes Jacob under his wing and teaches him a trade that pays far better than the neighborhood boys could possibly dream. Striking out on his own, Jacob familiarizes himself with London's highest value neighborhoods while forging his own path in the shadows. But everything changes when he adopts an aspiring teenage thief named Bill Sikes, whose mercurial temper poses a danger to himself and anyone foolish enough to cross him.
About the Book
A thrilling reimagining of the world of Charles Dickens, as seen through the eyes of the infamous Jacob Fagin, London’s most gifted pickpocket, liar and rogue.
Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of 19th-century London. Born in the Jewish enclave of Stepney shortly after his father was executed as a thief, Jacob's whole world is his open-minded mother, Leah. But Jacob’s prospects are forever altered when a light-fingered pickpocket takes Jacob under his wing and teaches him a trade that pays far better than the neighborhood boys could possibly dream.
Striking out on his own, Jacob familiarizes himself with London's highest value neighborhoods while forging his own path in the shadows. But everything changes when he adopts an aspiring teenage thief named 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 greatest protégé, the Artful Dodger. But as Bill’s ambition soars and a major robbery goes awry, Jacob is forced to decide what he really stands for --- and what a life is worth.
Colorfully written and wickedly funny, Allison Epstein breathes fresh life into the teeming streets of Dickensian London --- reclaiming one of Victorian literature’s most notorious villains in an unforgettable new adventure.
Audiobook available, read by Will Watt
