Dickens's own childhood infatuation with Lucy Stroughill.[47][48]The character of Fagin is believed to be based upon Ikey Solomon,a 19th century Jewishcriminal of London and later Australia.It is reported that Dickens,during his time as a journalist,interviewed Solomon after a court appearance and that he was the inspiration for the gang leader in Oliver Twist.When the work waspublished in 1838 the unpleasant,to moderneyes,[49]stereotype ofthe Jewish character"Fagin"as fence and corrupter ofchildren perpetuated prejudices ofthe times,thecharacterisation meanwhile aroused no indignation,or even comment at the time of publication.[50]Eliza Davis,whose husbandhad purchased Dickens's home in 1860 when he had put it up for sale,wrote to Dickens in 1963 in protestat his portrayal of Fagin,arguing that he had"encouraged a vile prejudice against the despised Hebrew".While Dickens pointed out that "all the rest ofthe wicked dramatis personae are Christians",and that he had "no feeling towards the jews but a friendly one",he took her complaint seriously.[49]He halted the printing ofOliver Twist,and changed the text for the partsofthe book that had not been set.In his novel,Our Mutual Friend,he created the character ofRiah(meaning"friend"in Hebrew).Riah says inDickens's own childhood infatuation with Lucy Stroughill.[47][48]The character of Fagin is believed to be based upon Ikey Solomon, a 19th century Jewish criminal of London and later Australia. It is reported that Dickens, during his time as a journalist, interviewed Solomon after a court appearance and that he was the inspiration for the gang leader in Oliver Twist. When the work was published in 1838 the unpleasant, to modern eyes,[49]stereotype of the Jewish character "Fagin" as fence and corrupter of children perpetuated prejudices of the times, the characterisation meanwhile aroused no indignation, or even comment at the time of publication.[50]Eliza Davis, whose husband had purchased Dickens's home in 1860 when he had put it up for sale, wrote to Dickens in 1963 in protest at his portrayal of Fagin, arguing that he had "encouraged a vile prejudice against the despised Hebrew". While Dickens pointed out that "all the rest of the wicked dramatis personae are Christians", and that he had "no feeling towards the jews but a friendly one", he took her complaint seriously.[49]He halted the printing of Oliver Twist, and changed the text for the parts of the book that had not been set. In his novel, Our Mutual Friend, he created the character of Riah (meaning "friend" in Hebrew). Riah says in