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05th October 2010

Old Member puts a twist on Oliver Twist

Gary Best (1970, Modern History) is the author of a new crime novel called Oliver Twist Investigates.

An innovative reimagining of Dickens’ classic tale, the novel begins with Oliver (now an adult) receiving unsettling information written years earlier by Fagin while he awaited his execution.

Oliver comes to believe Dickens’ version of the events of his childhood is untrue, and he begins a complex investigation that takes him into the slums of London, searching out figures from his past – including Betsy, Noah Claypole, Mr Bumble, Charlie Bates, and, of course, the Artful Dodger. Gradually Oliver’s investigation uncovers not just what really happened to Nancy but the astonishing truth about his own identity.

Gary Best is the author of a biography of Charles Wesley, and Transforming Lives, a book on education. Oliver Twist Investigates will be published on 30 November 2010.

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