cover image The Later Adventures of Tom Jones

The Later Adventures of Tom Jones

Bob Coleman. Simon & Schuster, $15.45 (345pp) ISBN 978-0-671-54643-4

Henry Fielding himself might have applauded this clever and delightful romp which features his own hero and is written (more or less) in his own style. Bored with life as a Somerset squire, honest Tom, now in his 40s, leaps into a world of intrigue, politics and hazardousand for the reader, highly entertainingadventure. He leaves behind him his three children: the appealing Rob, who turns privateer (fortunately for Tom, as it later proves); the gentle Amelia, with whose charms the upstanding young Parson Adams is smitten; and the wicked Hacksem, who, aided by an unscrupulous lawyer, tries to steal his father's estate. Tom's adventures, which take him to London, France and Revolutionary America (he is lured thither by a lovely colonial), involve highwaymen, unjustified stints in jail, duels, assorted amatory exploits and meetings with Dr. Johnson and Ben Franklin. In the end, virtue triumphs and villainy is brought low. Coleman is a scholar of 18th century literature and a master of pastiche. Foreign rights: Curtis Brown. October