Olivia Twist

A dark past, a glittering future, and the world between them.

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Pub Date Mar 06 2018 | Archive Date Aug 14 2019

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Description

Olivia Twist is an innovative reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale Oliver Twist, in which Olivia was forced to live as a boy for her own safety until she was rescued from the streets. Now eighteen, Olivia finds herself at a crossroads: revealed secrets threaten to destroy the “proper” life she has built for herself, while newfound feelings for an arrogant young man she shouldn’t like could derail her carefully laid plans for the future.

Olivia Brownlow is no damsel in distress. Born in a workhouse and raised as a boy among thieving London street gangs, she is as tough and cunning as they come. When she is taken in by her uncle after a caper gone wrong, her life goes from fighting and stealing on the streets to lavish dinners and soirees as a debutante in high society. But she can’t seem to escape her past … or forget the teeming slums where children just like her still scrabble to survive.

Jack MacCarron rose from his place in London’s East End to become the adopted “nephew” of a society matron. Little does society know that MacCarron is a false name for a boy once known among London gangs as the Artful Dodger, and that he and his “aunt” are robbing them blind every chance they get. When Jack encounters Olivia Brownlow in places he least expects, his curiosity is piqued. Why is a society girl helping a bunch of homeless orphan thieves? Even more intriguing, why does she remind him so much of someone he once knew? Jack finds himself wondering if going legit and risking it all might be worth it for love. 

Olivia Twist is a jacketed hardcover with decorative embossing.

Olivia Twist is an innovative reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale Oliver Twist, in which Olivia was forced to live as a boy for her own safety until she was rescued from the streets. Now...


Advance Praise

Booklist Starred Review

Vivacious and lovely, 18-year-old Olivia Brownlow is a highly eligible young woman in London’s 1859 society. Before her long-lost uncle took her in, she grew up disguised as a boy named Oliver, who became a street rat in a gang run by the Artful Dodger. Olivia can’t forget her origins, and while snooping around during a formal dinner, she comes upon another sneak—the eye-catching gentleman named Jack MacCarron, who was also about to lift jewels from their owners. Olivia recognizes Jack as the Artful Dodger but keeps her identity from him. Though it’s love at first sight, the two wrestle with their unsuitable affection and unsavory pasts. Toss in Olivia’s impending engagement to a friend for whom she feels only platonic love, and a powder keg of a romantic triangle develops. The story’s breathlessly paced, quick-witted adventures offer more twists than a Shakespearean comedy of errors, as assumptions, secrets, etiquette, competition, and sexual tension create one ridiculous situation after another. Written in language

tailored to the setting, the occasional modern turns of phrases feel as if one’s corset briefly has been relaxed. This clever retelling of Dickens’ Oliver Twist is perfect for readers who love romance, adventure, historical settings, and heroines who can kick butt in formal gowns.

— Jeanne Fredriksen

 

School Library Journal

Olivia Twist was born an orphan. At the doctor’s behest, she was raised as a boy and lived her life on the street disguised as such under the tutelage of Jack, the Artful Dodger, who was none the wiser of his mate Ollie’s true identity. Now, at 18 years old, Olivia Brownlow has taken the name of her adoptive uncle, whom she met in a heist gone awry. Leaving her past behind, except for a gang of street-dwelling orphans whom she aids, Olivia takes a spot in London’s high society and is on the brink of engagement to the rich bachelor Max Grimwig. However, when she meets Jack MacCarron, who is none other than her childhood mentor—the Artful Dodger—with his own new name and benefactor, Olivia’s plan to marry well is derailed and their shared past proves irresistible to both of them. Yet when Olivia’s orphans are threatened by a turf war with the nefarious Monks, she feels cornered into the only means available to save them. With many twists and turns, some less-than-plausible and many slightly too-tidy, Langdon of “Doon” series fame serves up a delightful, action-packed historical tale. Perhaps most enjoyable for those familiar with Oliver Twist in its original literature and Broadway musical forms, this title is nonetheless a compelling, gender-flipped romp through Dickensian London. VERDICT An additional purchase where historical fiction or romance are popular.

—Brittany Drehobl, Morton Grove Public Library, IL

“A brilliant reimagining of Oliver Twist! The prologue hooked me immediately. Langdon deftly plunges the reader into Dickens’s world of loveable orphans fighting to survive on the darker streets of London. Their plight is set in stark contrast to the sumptuous backdrop of Victorian England’s high society. Olivia Twist deals with treachery in both worlds and proves a spirited heroine worthy of admiration, while Dodger is the perfect bad boy hero. Sigh, I’ve fallen in love.”

Kathleen Baldwin, bestselling author of A School for Unusual Girls

 

“Captivating from the very first page to the very last! Olivia Twist is an enchanting story, brimming with eclectic characters, intrigue, and a romance that is certain to leave you weak at the knees. Not to be missed!”

Jen Turano, USA Today Best-Selling Author

 

“When I learned Lorie Langdon made a foray into historical romance, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. And she didn’t disappoint. Langdon expertly balances historical detailing and plot, the voice sparkles, and the characters were so endearing, I couldn’t wait to escape into this book each night. Lively and transportive, Olivia Twist is a romantic and clever take on a classic that will leave readers yearning for more from this author.”

Heather Webb, author of Last Christmas in Paris

 

"Delectable romance, spine-tingling danger, and an indomitable female lead make Lorie Langdon's Olivia Twist an addictively exquisite romp. One that kept me up far past midnight!" —Mary Weber, author of the Storm Siren Trilogy and The Evaporation of Sofi Snow

 


Booklist Starred Review

Vivacious and lovely, 18-year-old Olivia Brownlow is a highly eligible young woman in London’s 1859 society. Before her long-lost uncle took her in, she grew up disguised as a...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780310763413
PRICE $18.99 (USD)
PAGES 336

Average rating from 41 members


Featured Reviews

I love, love, love this book! Can't wait for this to come out and share it with my kiddos. This will definitely be a book I reread every year.

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Full review to come. For now: Lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove!

At some point I will hopefully be capable of writing a coherent, albeit gushing, review. Right now, all I can say is I adore every little thing about this book and just picture that emoji with the heart eyes...that's me right now.

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Enjoyable twist on Oliver Twist. Olivia is a charming read.

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There are a million and one reasons why OLIVIA TWIST is everything I hang my bookish hat on.

“That small inner voice that most women ignore because they’re too concerned with living the life others expect."

“With Jack’s presence, the room brightened as if several more candelabras followed him into that room. A smile that seemed to originate deep in Olivia’s chest stretched her lips without her consent.”


It is everything a book experience SHOULD BE. It is everything LIFE should be. It is a gaslit Victorian carousel of pickpockets and villains, rickety pubs, railing danger and clandestine meetings with handbrushes that send tingles to your toes and harrowing meetings on London Bridge. Olivia Twist marries a well known trope while finding footing in a dazzling new world. Though not fantastical as it is rooted deep in perfectly-researched Victorian London, the heart-pounding feeling you get as the curtain is pulled back on its colourful universe makes you feel you are stepping into another world. It is my favourite type of read.

Image result for olivia twistIt takes you into a place of nostalgia while offering a unique tug into a world at once familiar and surprising. It elicits all manner of giggles and gasps and blanket-gripping tension as you think you know how it will end, but you are not quite sure. It reminds you why you love reading in the first place.

Olivia Twist finds a brilliant balance between source material novel and famous adaptation and adds another layer to this delicious cake. Cameos from the book like Monks and Fagin are paired with the sheer heart behind the musical that introduced many of us to Dickens (the musical, it should be said, is a gateway drug). And while the book is gifted with subtle lovely nods to red roses and mornings whose sunshine you want to buy and bottle, it springboards into its own realm of adventure.

Basically, if you love Oliver Twist—in any form---you have come to the right party. If you love Dickens, you have come to the right party. If you love cross-dressing female heroines, you have come to the right party.

If you love ROMANCE that will strangle you breath and pulse your heart into a gallop from the first unexpected meeting between two people who used to know each other ( one knowing a little more about one than the other), then you have found a virtual literary rager.


A heroine of agency and heart who reminded me a lot of Wonder Woman for some reason ( weird contemporary link, I know ); but like WW, Olivia has a kind heart, even if you never want to run into a bout of fisticuffs with her. Like WW, Olivia would see a baby and melt, taste ice cream and melt, care of her elderly guardian by day playing the winsome socialite while sneaking out be-wigged to help a band of orphans at night.

It is this perfect balance of scrappy and sophisticated that pairs a wonderful example of the complexity of women. To be strong, Langdon asserts, does not mean shrugging out of femininity. Likewise, to enjoy finesse and have a caring maternal view does not undermine strength.

“She blinked up at him and he was Dodger again. The rough-and-tumble street kid with the heart of gold.”

Then there’s Dodger who is at once sweet cinnamon roll of vulnerability and savvy, scrappy pickpocket late of Fagin’s influence. He is our guide to the underworld while, like Olivia, balancing a life of high social standing and finding it a bit like a sweater with sleeves too long for him.

While I was delightfully on the edge of my seat to reacquaint myself with well known characters against a well known canvas in a new backdrop, I think the most surprising aspect of the novel for me was its amazing portrayal of sacrifice: something I was not expecting. It is here that the subtle and deft touch of faith is interwoven within a compelling world at large. If your soul is not strangled in breath-gulps by the end ---by either the beautiful writing or the sob inducing choice one is willing to make in the spirit of true love—then go sit in a corner with a lump of black coal.


Oh! And the writing? See, the writing. Friends, sometimes a book springboards to life because its sizzles and sparks with the author’s heart. You can feel the author’s passion through the page. This is one of those books. Reading this I felt I had found new fictional friends, yes, but also a kindred spirit in the pen behind the page. In OLIVIA TWIST, Langdon’s obvious love for this world of story plays fast and loose to win us completely. It’s her gift. It’s an act of sharing. This passion is a portal for gorgeously lyrical writing that at turns grips and surprises.

“Haze draped the skyline of the city like the oozing, yellow center of a stale egg” (I mean, come on! It whiffs of Dickens but with an originality of its own)

“Peels of fog slithered and curled over the cobbles.” ( COME ON!)


“Their skirts sweeping against the cobblestones like a thousand whispers” (because consonance is the spice of life. Like Dickens before her, Langdon’s prose begs to be read aloud)


With all the thanks to Blink YA for the review copy of an anticipated book that shattered my expectations and winnowed its way to my FOREVER READ SHELF

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This was an amazing read! Loved loved loved the twist on Oliver twist and this clever cast of characters!!! Olivia is a girl with spirit, spunk and a soft heart. Jack is a boy with grit, determination and heart. The plot has action, danager, romance and the perfect balance of all three. Fabulous historical read of the Victorian Times when being an orphan was almost a death sentence. Can't say enough good enough this FABULOUS novel!!!!!!

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