
Fagin the Thief
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Will Watt
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By:
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Allison Epstein
About this listen
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.
"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
Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of nineteenth-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.
©2025 Allison Epstein (P)2025 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"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
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London, 1878. One April morning, a small boat bearing a young woman’s corpse floats down the murky waters of the Thames. When the victim is identified as Rose Albert, daughter of a prominent judge, the Scotland Yard director gives the case to Michael Corravan, one of the only senior inspectors remaining after a corruption scandal the previous autumn left the division in ruins. Reluctantly, Corravan abandons his ongoing case, a search for the missing wife of a shipping magnate, handing it over to his young colleague, Mr. Stiles.
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good read
- By Heather Rattay Nassar on 12-02-21
By: Karen Odden
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The Younger Woman
- A Novel
- By: Cate Ray
- Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Gabby and Fred have just begun to adapt to their new life as empty nesters when Gabby makes a stunning realization: she can’t stand her husband. One night at a bar, Gabby meets an enigmatic younger woman named Ellis, and in a haze of drunkenness, she confesses that she wishes Fred dead. Surely she didn’t expect anything to come of it, but when she tries to track Ellis down again, she realizes that Ellis might not have been who she said she was.
By: Cate Ray
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Boy
- A Novel
- By: Nicole Galland
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Alexander “Sander” Cooke is the most celebrated “boy player” in the Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s theatre company. Indeed, Sander’s androgynous beauty and deft portrayal of female roles have made him the toast of London, and his companionship is sought by noblewomen and -men alike. And yet, now at the height of his fame, he teeters on the cusp of adulthood, his future uncertain. Often, he wishes he could stop time and remain a boy forever.
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Good little story.
- By sdp on 06-07-25
By: Nicole Galland
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The Pretender
- A Novel
- By: Jo Harkin
- Narrated by: John Hollingworth
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the tumultuous period of the Tudors' ascent, The Pretender brings to life the little-known story of Lambert Simnel. From humble beginnings as a peasant boy, Lambert's life takes an astonishing turn when, at just ten years old, he becomes a claimant to the English throne as one of the last of the Plantagenet line. As Lambert navigates the treacherous waters of royal intrigue and court life, complex themes of identity, power, and destiny unfold, weaving a tapestry of ambition and survival in a world where the stakes couldn't be higher.
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Brilliant Simply Brilliant
- By C. Sanders on 05-10-25
By: Jo Harkin
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One Good Thing
- A Novel
- By: Georgia Hunter
- Narrated by: Eva Feiler, Georgia Hunter
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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1940, Italy. Lili and Esti have been best friends since they first met at university. When Esti’s son Theo is born, they become as close as sisters. While a war seethes across borders, life somehow goes on—until Germany invades Italy, and the friends suddenly find themselves in occupied territory. Esti, older and fiercely self-assured, convinces Lili to join the resistance efforts. But when disaster strikes, a critically wounded Esti asks Lili to take a much bigger step: To go on the run with Theo. Protect him while Esti can’t.
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I loved it
- By helene vanderhoff on 04-28-25
By: Georgia Hunter
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The Lost Masterpiece
- A Novel
- By: B. A. Shapiro
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner, Christine Lakin, Hannah Curtis, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Stretching from the late-nineteenth century to the present day, The Lost Masterpiece is wrapped around an enigmatic and powerful painting, Party on the Seine. Stolen by the Nazis. Believed to be destroyed for almost a century. Possibly haunted by the anguished spirit of Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot. Survivor of a flood, an earthquake and a fire when all the other artworks around it were destroyed. What secrets does it hold? What power?
By: B. A. Shapiro
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Darkenbloom
- By: Eva Menasse, Charlotte Collins - translator
- Narrated by: Christine Williams
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 1989, and in a small town on the Austria-Hungary border, nobody talks about the war; the older residents pretend not to remember, and the younger ones are too busy making plans to leave. The walls are thin, the curtains twitch, there is a face at every window, and everyone knows what they are not supposed to say. But as thousands of East German refugees mass at the border, it seems that the past is knocking on Darkenbloom's door. Still, though, nobody talks about the war. Until a mysterious visitor shows up asking questions.
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Nothing. Even sped up I couldn’t stay interested in any of the characters.
- By Stephen Ruffin on 06-08-25
By: Eva Menasse, and others
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The Usual Desire to Kill
- A Novel
- By: Camilla Barnes
- Narrated by: Harriet Walter
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Miranda’s parents live in a dilapidated house in rural France that they share with two llamas, eight ducks, five chickens, two cats, and a freezer full of food dating back to 1983. This wry, propulsive story about a singularly eccentric family and the sibling rivalry, generational divides, and long-buried secrets that shape them, is a glorious debut novel from a seasoned playwright with immense empathy and a flair for dialogue.
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The acceptance of sadness
- By Bob Whitely on 06-01-25
By: Camilla Barnes
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The Grand Scheme of Things
- A Novel
- By: Warona Jay
- Narrated by: Ony Uhiara, Sam Stafford
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo. Or, for short, Eddie: an aspiring playwright who dreams of making it big in London’s theater world. But after repeated rejections from white talent agents, Eddie suspects her non-white sounding name might be the problem. Enter Hugo Lawrence Smith: good looking, well-connected, charismatic and…very white. Stifled by his law degree and looking for a way out of the corporate world, he finds a kindred spirit in Eddie after a chance encounter at a cafe. Together they devise a plan, one which will see Eddie’s play on stage and Hugo’s name in lights.
By: Warona Jay
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The Expert of Subtle Revisions
- A Novel
- By: Kirsten Menger-Anderson
- Narrated by: George Ellington, Gryphon Corpus, Michael Crouch
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Half Moon Bay, California, 2016, a young woman waits for her father's sailboat to arrive at port. They have agreed to meet on this day and time. Yet he never shows. He has told her this event might come. And if it did, she was ready. Go to the library in Berkeley, find a certain book, follow the instructions. But what if the instructions lead to more questions than answers?
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Not unknown, unseen
- By J. Davis on 05-18-25
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Parallel Lines
- A Novel
- By: Edward St. Aubyn
- Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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From the bestselling and award-winning author of the Patrick Melrose novels, a hilarious and moving story about a group of wildly different characters whose fates are improbably yet inextricably linked—a novel about extinction and survival, inheritance and loss, written with St. Aubyn’s trademark wit and inimitable style
By: Edward St. Aubyn
Outstanding
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It's a story you know, sort of, if you know Oliver Twist, but it's also a story of who Fagin was before Oliver arrived on the scene, and who he becomes after Oliver departs. It takes the villainous barbarism of Bill Sikes and gives him, against all odds, a beating human heart. Nobody in this story is pure sinner or pure saint, and Allison Epstein renders all of them into fully three-dimensional people, just trying to make their various ways in the world.
That life is perhaps Fagin's defining characteristic in his vow to stay alive at any cost. We expect our literary heroes to be selfless, self-sacrificing, but here is a man who is neither. Fagin is honest when it matters, ready to face death when he absolutely must, but not one moment before that. It's a trait any reader might recognize as their own feelings on the subject, and Fagin is no less heroic for it. He does what we all must, born into lives we didn't ask for: Fagin survives.
While Fagin the Thief would be engrossing in any format, Will Watt’s audio performance here is superb. He gives every character a distinct voice and brings the whole cast to life.
Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls
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not Oliver!
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Our local theatre produced Oliver not tooong ago, with a brilliant portrayal of Favin—made him come alive. And that’s what this book, and performance, does for a full picture of Fagin. What an imagination. What wording! And what a reading. The narrator and production are pitch perfect. I better see this book and audio nominated for awards. Not to miss.
A masterpiece — written and vocalized
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The backstory to Fagin
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Superb story telling and performance
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Absolutely Loved it.
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Brilliant story
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Nothing to see here
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