If Bill Haye's Insomniac City were just a book about a love affair between two literary men - himself and Oliver Sacks - 30 years apart in age it would be riches enough, but it is so much more.

Now, 167 years after it was published, a "real life" Oliver Twist, the true source for the story of the boy who dared to ask for more, has supposedly been uncovered.

It sparked a thousand childhood nightmares – now the original workhouse from Oliver Twist has been discovered. But a row has erupted over what to do with the building. Lorna Bradbury reports.

In both Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Allison Epstein’s novel, Fagin the Thief, the word “Jew” appears more than 300 times. But there’s a big difference in how the authors use the word.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with novelist Allison Epstein about her new novel "Fagin the Thief," which imagines a backstory for the character from the Charles Dickens book "Oliver Twist." ...