 In a storm, in a workhouse, to a nameless woman, young Oliver Twist is born into parish care where he s overworked and underfed. As he grows older his adventures take him from the countryside to London, through harsh treatment, kindness, an undertaker, and a thieves  dens, where he makes friends and enemies. But all the time he is pursued by the mysterious Monks, who hires Fagin to turn Oliver into a thief. Oliver is rescued by chance and kind friends. But it s a puzzle of legitimacy, inheritance, and identity that Oliver s friends must attempt to unravel before Monks can destroy Oliver.