It’s hard to describe how much love I have for this book, and admiration for its author, Kathy George. Known for reimagining the lives of already well- known fictitious characters in her other wonderful works (Saragasso, Estella),this is the second time Kathy has turned to a Charles Dickens novel for inspiration. This time, she reinvents the life of the Nancy, the compassionate and brave prostitute, from Oliver Twist.
My goodness. What an accomplishment this is.
Written in the first person, the reader is brought into Nancy’s hard life, the folk who share it with her – many familiar to us such as Fagin, the Artful Dodger and, of course, the flawed and brutal and brutally flawed, Bill Sikes and his faithful hound, Bullseye. But it’s Nancy who shines in this brilliant and heartfelt story.
Flung into a life she knows casts judgement upon her, Nancy mostly accepts her lot, including a relationship with the vicious and mercurial Bill. When first a young orphan named Oliver, who has the face of an angel, arouses feelings in Nancy she’s long denied, and then a mysterious stranger makes an unexpected request, Nancy finds herself imagining possibilities she thought dead to her. A maternal streak she didn’t know she possessed makes her cautious and protective and brings her into conflict with her peers. The stranger evokes other feelings in Nancy, ones she’s never experienced before and these open possibilities she thought beyond one of her class and profession. Nancy has choices to make – to save herself and live the life she’s only ever dreamed of, or save an innocent child and bring down the wrath of those who trust her not to betray them…
Where do I begin? Firstly, I read this book with my heart in my mouth the entire way. I love Oliver Twist having first read it when I was very young, in a huge illustrated edition with beautiful stills from the movie (which I later saw). I adored Nancy, the Dodger and didn’t even mind Fagin (lacking an understanding of his motives and methods). But Bill Sikes and his dog terrified me. Since then, I have read the book many times. What Kathy has done here is remarkable in that she’s not only brought Nancy to life beyond Dicken’s rendition but also given her an authentic and warm voice as well. It’s as if we walk beside Nancy, conversing with a street-wise friend, as she observes, feels, decides, avoids and dreams. The experience is bitter-sweet and heart-achingly lovely. Furthermore, Kathy has given the other main characters a life and history beyond Dickens, filling them out in bold, rich colours that make them come alive in unexpected, fearsome and often delightful ways. They are all seen through Nancy’s eyes and her huge capacity to accept people as they are and try and understand why they might act a particular way or make certain decisions influences our reception of them too.
Kathy also brings Victorian London to life in all its dun-coloured stench and wonder. We walk the gas-lit streets, smell the bodies, the choking fumes, the ordure of animals and humans. We feel the joy of a shared celebration, the fear of a failed enterprise, the hunger and the hope.
The ending is beautifully imagined and unexpected. That’s all I will say about that. As for the book – I am not often lost for words, but this is an utterly wonderful reading experience that still, weeks later, lingers in my heart – in my soul. The prose is fabulous, elegant in its phaticness and simply lovely to read. I will be buying copies for my book-friends for Christmas and I know if you do the same, you will utterly thrill them!
One of my absolute favourite reads in what’s been a great reading year.