Twelve-year-old Ren, abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony's orphanage, is missing his left hand. He doesn't know why; in fact, the only thing of which he can be sure is that no one will ever adopt him.
Until a young man named Benjamin appears, claiming to be Ren's long-lost brother. Soon, Ren finds himself on a strange journey through nineteenth century New England, entangled with grave-robbers, thieves and murderers, while Benjamin's stories become more outlandish and Ren's dreams of a family recede even further.
Should he stay and become one of the gang, or escape and be alone once more? And - if he survives Benjamin's riskiest scheme - will the truth about his parentage be something he really wants to know?
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Praise for The Good Thief
'An engrossing read... Intoxicating!' - Time Out New York
'Witty, lively and inventive' - Daily Telegraph
'This striking debut novel is a homage to old-fashioned boy's-own adventure stories, and unfolds like a Robert Louis Stevenson tale told amid the hard scrabble squalor of Colonial New England. The sheer strangeness of the story is beguiling' - New Yorker
'A confident whirl of a read... Proper storytelling' - The Guardian
'One of the freshest, most beguiling narratives this side of Oliver Twist' - Oprah Magazine
'A joy to read... well-drawn, evocative characters and fantastical imagination' - Metro
'A novel so marvelous and enchanting and rare that you wish everyone in the world would read it' - Elizabeth Gilbert
