Our Rotten Hearts

A Novel; The Life and Times of Fagin the Thief

De: Allison Epstein

Duración: 12 h

Resumen del Editor

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 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 protege, 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 Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Our Rotten Hearts is 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

“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. Our Rotten Hearts is a story of what freedom means when being a Jew is worse even than being a thief, and the courage it takes to live life in stubborn opposition to a society determined to do its worst."—Laura R. Samotin, author of The Sins On Their Bones