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Why must Nancy die?

A modern take on Oliver Twist
by
January–February 2025, no. 472

The Scent of Oranges by Kathy George

HQ Fiction, $34.99 pb, 359 pp

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Why must Nancy die?

A modern take on Oliver Twist
by
January–February 2025, no. 472

In The Scent of Oranges, Kathy George writes a new story for Nancy, the warm-hearted street girl in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist (1838). With a deftness that commands admiration, George sutures her story to parts of the novel written by Dickens almost two centuries ago, maintaining the integrity of all his scenes involving Nancy, preserving, while lightly adapting, much of his dialogue; borrowing some of his imagery, but interweaving those scenes with others of her own invention. It is so skilfully done that the stitches barely show, so it takes some time to realise just how much of this admirably Dickensian dialogue is in fact dialogue written by Dickens.

The Scent of Oranges

The Scent of Oranges

by Kathy George

HQ Fiction, $34.99 pb, 359 pp

Buy this book

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.

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