Whenever I pick up a physical book, and it looks a little *too* long, I always check the font to see if it's a full on tome. But I never check when I'm downloading books to my kindle, which is how this happened. The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling is a full on 900-odd page doorstop that took me three months to get through on my kindle, but was still an interesting read for sure.
One of the earliest English novels, Tom Jones was published in 1749. It's a bildungsroman, which means that it follows the story of someone's growth from childhood to adulthood, and even death. Tom Jones was abandoned as a baby on the bed of Squire Allworthy, who took him in out of the goodness of his heart. Allworthy's sister Bridget begs him to take on the baby, as she knows it will struggle to survive outside of this family. Filled with jealousy as they're brought up together, Bridget's son Master Blifil begins to accuse Tom of crimes he's innocent of. Eventually succumbing to the deception, Squire Allworthy turfs Tom out of his home, devastated that the teen would do what he believes he's done.
And here's where it gets a bit comical, in the same strain as a bawdy Shakespeare play. Tom sleeps around, getting into mishaps and hiding under beds. He lives a sexually debauched life, but maintains his moral compass in all other areas. Eventually all the threads of the story come together in a happy ending (my fave tbh).
Although it took a whole lotta time to get through, I did enjoy this. It really did remind me of a tongue-in-cheek Renaissance play, but the action was extended over 900 pages (help), rather than 5 Acts. Tom was a bit of a trope, a man that loves getting drunk and falling into trouble with the ladies, but is 'actually really good on the inside'. Master Blifil is a great wicked character who stirs the point and twists perspectives at every moment.
The ending genuinely had me shocked, and tied up every loose end which I LOVED. I didn't expect to have had the wool pulled over my eyes in this plot, and it was genuinely a great way to finish things off.
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