Entertainment
7 New Books We Recommend This Week
Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.
This week’s offerings include a poetry collection and a remarkably cleareyed memoir by a survivor of sexual abuse, along with a bounty of good fiction by Amity Gaige, David Szalay, Allison Epstein and others. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles
Fagin the Thief
by Allison Epstein
You might be surprised to learn that Oliver Twist has nothing more than a walk-on part in “Fagin the Thief.” And even more surprised to learn that Dickens’s notorious villain emerges from this reimagining of his origins as somewhat less villainous — still a sinister master criminal, but indelibly shaped by the prejudices of 19th-century London, where even as a boy he suffers “the natural consequence of being visibly Jewish and visibly poor.” Epstein has created a deeply nuanced character, understandable if not wildly sympathetic, a loner who has learned a tragic lesson: “Iron hearts can’t break.” Read our review.
