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.