It is a Bildungsroman and a picaresque novel. It was first published on 28 February in London and is among the earliest English works to be classified as a novel. Somerset Maugham in his book Great Novelists and Their Novels , in which Maugham ranks the ten best novels of the world. The novel is highly organised despite its length.
The wealthy Squire Allworthy and his sister Bridget are introduced in their estate in Somerset. Allworthy returns from London after an extended business trip and finds an abandoned baby sleeping in his bed.
He summons his housekeeper, Mrs Deborah Wilkins, to take care of the child. After searching the nearby village Mrs Wilkins is told about Jenny Jones, the young servant of a schoolmaster and his wife, as the most likely person to have committed the deed. Jenny is brought before the Allworthys and admits being the one who put the baby in the bed, but refuses to reveal the father's identity. Allworthy removes Jenny to a place where her reputation will be unknown and tells Bridget to raise the boy, whom he names Thomas, in his household.
The doctor introduces the captain to Bridget in the hope of marrying into Allworthy's wealth. The couple soon marries. After the marriage, Captain Blifil begins to show a coldness to his brother, who eventually feels obliged to leave the house for London. He does, and later dies "of a broken heart. By then, he has fathered a boy who grows up with the bastard Tom. Captain Blifil's son, known as Master Blifil, is a jealous boy who conspires against Tom.
Tom grows into a youth. He tends to be closer friends with the servants and gamekeepers than with members of the gentry.
