I saw a review on another platform encouraging readers to take this book on its own terms and not as a companion to Oliver Twist, and as someone who is only vaguely familiar with Oliver Twist from decades ago in school, I can say I definitely enjoyed this novel! I did appreciate the author's note about what they changed and why, and I expect I'll come to appreciate their changes even more once I revisit the original. I will also say that I greatly appreciated Epstein's decision not to sanitize Fagin, but rather, present the WHY of him. Long story short: A morally gray main character you can't help but care about (if not root for), lovable (and hate-able) side characters, a rich historical atmosphere, and gorgeous writing to boot - really, what more can you ask for in a book?

For anyone who grew up loving Dickens stories, especially for anyone who read/watched/loved/performed in Oliver, here is the backstory to one of the most beloved characters from Dicken’s imagination.
How did Fagin get to the place where we meet him in Oliver Twist?
Part origin story, part retelling, all homage. You can tell the author loves this story and loves this character.
There’s a chunk in this book between Fagins upbringing and meeting Nancy where the book almost lost me, I think because even though I already have images of Fagin from the movie, I struggled with the era matching the writing style. It felt more like a modern story and didn’t capture that Dickensian feel with the dialogue.
You also do have to “let it go” a bit how the story, once stating to align with Dickens, is changed. Bill and Nancy and Bet and Oliver and Dodger are all there, but how the story lands at the end will have purists thinking “but, but…” The author explains this in the author notes and who’s to blame and author for writing their own story, but it’s the hazard of any homage book, song, movie, etc, isn’t it?
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a fair review. The opinions are my own.
I give it 4 stars. I really did enjoy it in the second half. It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.