Tom Jones is widely regarded as one of the first & most influential English novels. It is certainly the funniest. Tom Jones the hero of the book is introduced to the reader as the ward of a liberal Somerset squire. Tom is a generous but slightly wild & feckless country boy with a weakness for young women. Misfortune followed by many spirited adventures as he travels to London to seek his fortune teach him a sort of wisdom to go with his essential good-heartedness.