Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749)

Tom Jones (Officially "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling") written by Henry Fielding and published in 1749, is a lively comic novel that helped define the modern English novel. The story follows Tom Jones, a warmhearted but impulsive young man, as he navigates love, class boundaries, mistaken identities, and moral missteps on his journey toward maturity. Beneath its humor and episodic adventures, the book explores serious questions about virtue, hypocrisy, and what it means to be truly good rather than merely respectable. With its energetic narrator and broad social vision, Tom Jones blends satire and sympathy into a celebration of human imperfection and growth.