The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle

"The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle" by T. Smollett is a picaresque novel first published in 1751. It follows an egotistical young gentleman rejected by his cruel mother and raised by the eccentric Commodore Hawser Trunnion. Through Peregrine's adventures across 18th-century European society—from Oxford to France to debtors' prison—Smollett satirizes human cruelty, stupidity, and greed. The novel depicts elaborate practical jokes, colorful misanthropes, and a journey from youthful arrogance to eventual repentance and love. (This is an automatically generated summary.)