Widely considered to be one of the first true English novels, Fielding's "Tom Jones," written in 1749, revolves around the life and experiences of an orphaned baby who grows up to be a kind-hearted, if overly vigorous, young man. Tom is brought up by the generous Mr. Allworthy on his Somerset estate, where Tom eventually falls in love with his beautiful neighbor, Sophia Western. Because of his partially unknown parentage, however, their respective guardians are against the match. When Tom is banished due to his occasionally heated temper and sexual encounters with local girls, he has an adventure full of danger and surprise, and he ultimately follows Sophia to London, who herself flees from an undesirable arranged marriage. Generally acknowledged as Fielding's greatest work, "Tom Jones" takes the hero through an inventive plot that will entertain and astonish readers to the revealing conclusion.

亨利·菲尔丁（Henry Fielding，1707年4月22日-1754年10月8日）英国小说家，戏剧家。其代表作品《汤姆·琼斯》对后世影响极大。

生平

1707年菲尔丁生于英国萨默塞特郡，就读于伊顿公学。他的妹妹后来也成为了著名作家。菲尔丁写了一部浪漫小说，却因此引起了官司，之后他前往伦敦继续写作。1728年菲尔丁前往荷兰莱顿学习，回到英国之后，他开始为剧院创作剧本。他当时的一些作品对当时沃尔波尔爵士领导的英国政府进行了辛辣的讽刺，特别Golden Rump一剧，作家的讽刺功力初露锋芒，但也导致了1737年政府宣布实施剧院许可证法案。

这一法案使得上演的剧本时刻受到怀疑，在舞台上讽刺政治已经不再可能。菲尔丁因此退出剧院，重操法律旧业。1748年他成为米德尔塞克斯和威斯敏斯特的治安官员。