The Adventures of David Simple (1744), Sarah Fielding's first and most celebrated novel, went through several editions, the second of which was heavily revised by her brother Henry. This edition includes Henry's "corrections" in an appendix. In recounting the guileless hero's search for a true friend, the novel depicts the derision with which almost everyone treats his sentimental attitudes to human nature. Acclaimed as an accurate portrait of mid-eighteenth-century London, The Adventures of David Simple sets forth some provocative feminist ideas. Also included is Fielding's much darker sequel, Volume the Last (1753).

The Adventures of David Simpleis the story of one man's search for truth, honesty, and friendship in a corrupt world. Following the literary model of Don Quixote, the novel is both a witty and engaging satire of eighteenth-century London life and a serious examination of the moral and social issues facing men and women of the day. Fielding draws upon her own experiences as an impoverished, unmarried gentlewoman to portray her two heroines, Cynthia and Camilla, and infuses the novel with provocative feminist ideas as she makes a pointed critique of the position of women. This Penguin Classics edition includes a critical introduction, suggestions for further reading, a chronology, notes, and a glossary. It also includes two appendixes: Henry Fielding's preface to the second edition and a note about the currency of eighteenth-century England. Edited with an introduction and notes by Linda Bree.

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