Tom Jones, a foundling, is brought up by the kindly Mr Allworthy as if he were his own son. Forced to leave the house as a young man after tales of his disgraceful behaviour reach his benefactor's ears, he sets out in utter despair, not only because of his banishment but because he has now lost all home of gaining the hand of the beauteous Sophia. But she, too, is forced to flee her parental home to escape an undesirable marriage, and as their stories and adventures intertwine, Fielding entertains us with a rich gallery of characters from all classes of society in a tale whose purpose is both comic and yet also serious, though never solemn or overstated. Tom is the first fully rounded hero in English fiction and he is as real today as he ever was.