New Take on “Oliver Twist” Brings Unlikely Characters to the Front

Out With Time by shoeless

"... a witty, thought-provoking and tragically romantic romp that any modern-day Dickens fan is sure to enjoy."

“As long as there is a piece of the story out there the story is never truly finished.”

Whether you’re a longtime Dickens fan seeking a continuation of a beloved story, or someone who is looking for a revision of a story that didn’t quite strike the right chord, Out With Time is a must-read new take on an old classic, set in the time before. Oliver Twist is filled to the brim with villains and maligned characters, who are deserving of their own stories, and author Shoeless takes the challenge of reinvention into his own hands.

Part prequel, part reimagining of the backstory to the characters from Oliver Twist, Out With Time focuses primarily on two characters from the original story — Mr. Obadiah Bumble and Nancy Cranehill.

Prequel to a Beloved Classic

The stage is set in Charles Dickens’ England, where we learn of Bumble and Nancy’s origins in the town of Mudfog. The pair befriended one another as orphans and “each represented two halves of a conjoined history. Neither would ever be complete without the other.” 

In her youth, Nancy is precocious, rough but sweet, a blend of everything that a young woman needs to be in order to survive in the world. Bumble, meanwhile, is not the villain we known him from in Oliver Twist — at least not yet. He is sympathetic as a young man, ridiculed and mocked for his weight by anyone he passes, but he retains a kindness and softness despite it. 

In a cottage on Chesterfield Road, under the heavy fist of Bumble’s distant relative and caretaker, Mrs. Mann, Nancy is a scullery maid. Together, they have forged the closest thing to a family they can scrap together.

Moral and Philosophical Issues of Time Period

News arises of a workhouse owned by the infamous Bill Sikes, which fills Nancy with dreams of creating an orphanage, where children can be cared for and protected. Mr. Obadiah Bumble seeks out employment and desires to become a man of means, and when a position as an undertaker opens for him, he graciously accepts the opportunity to have money in his pocket.

When Professor Patterson arrives at Mrs. Mann’s in hope of finding someone to guide him through town in his study of phrenology and its corellations with race, Nancy and Bumble are put on the spot to seek out a diverse range of people from the far reaches of town to be studied by this enigmatic professor. Questions of philosophy and morality arise and Bumble throws himself into ethical and intellectual debates, and pave a path for his maturation.

With a new career, heightened status and renewed sense of confidence, Bumble’s attitude changes and he begins to see Mudfog in a different light. He keeps an eye out for Nancy, perhaps selfishly, when a charming Frenchman begins to take an interest in her.

Later, when refugees struggle to shore after their ship crashes, Nancy and Bumble race to the rescue. As it turns out, the refugees escaped enslavement in the American South and sought their way to freedom, and tensions grow as word of their encampment spreads through town. Soon, Nancy has devoted herself to the cause of helping the refugees, and Bumble wallows in his loneliness at home without his companion and the object of his affection. 

In the midst of her charity, Nancy grows closer to the detestable Bill Sikes, and Bumble’s concern for her is heightened. “The idea that he and Nancy could carry on, unchanging, for the rest of their lives was never going to survive the hard reality of a town like Mudfog.” 

One deadly and fateful night, when Bumble and Nancy have finally confessed their love, a great darkness befalls them, and changes the course of their lives forever. Of course, out of that darkness emerges a familiar face, someone by the name of Oliver…

“Oliver Twist” For a Modern Audience

In Out With Time, the author assumes similar, but modernized language reminiscent of Dickens, giving the book a shared texture and quality with the original story. In lush, descriptive language, Shoeless paints vivid pictures of the setting, characters and their encounters. From murders to marriages, to debts and scandals, Out With Time is packed full of Charles Dickens’ trademark suspense, humor and mystery, paired with Shoeless’ added insights and curiousity about a changing world.

Through discussions of love, fate, intellect, racism and sexism, Shoeless has granted these familiar characters a modern touch, while still retaining the time period, language and feel of the canonical story. Out With Time is a witty, thought-provoking and tragically romantic romp that any modern-day Dickens fan is sure to enjoy.