16 h 59 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 417 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 417 pagesAbout this book
What if the worst traveling companion is also the person with the most generous heart?
Matthew Bramble leaves Wales in search of better health, but peace is hard to find. Bath offers crowds and display; London leaves him gasping. In Tobias Smollett’s The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, the irritable squire travels with a family whose quarrels, courtships, and complaints make every stop an adventure.
The story unfolds entirely in letters. Jery Melford watches with amusement, Lydia longs for love, Tabitha seeks a husband, and Winifred Jenkins dreams of a more fashionable life. Their accounts turn the same events in different directions. When the poor, honest Humphry Clinker enters the family’s service, his loyalty offers a contrast to the pretensions around them.
What you’ll discover
- Five wonderfully clashing voices See how one journey becomes several stories as each traveler puts pen to paper.
- Britain beyond the drawing room Step into crowded spas, disappointing inns, muddy roads, and the streets of Edinburgh.
- A temper worth looking beneath Meet a squire whose fierce complaints conceal a generous heart and sharp eye.
- Wit with a sharp edge Enjoy satire that pricks class pretensions, fashionable cures, and the gap between appearance and worth.
- Kindness amid the commotion Follow Humphry Clinker as his honesty, courage, and loyalty bring warmth to the family’s travels.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy comic voices, travel, and a vivid sense of a past age, and anyone who likes Dickens or Austen and wants to see where some of that wit began.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A gloomy squire sets out for his health
- Bath shows a society on display
- Five letter writers give five views
- A ragged postilion joins the party
- London brings crowds, cheats and a hidden suitor
- The road north tests love, pride and patience
- Scotland changes the squire's mind
- What the book is really about
- How the letters build the comedy
Who’s who
- Tabitha BrambleHis unmarried, bossy sister, devoted to her dog and her own interests, who is eager to find a husband.
- Jery MelfordBramble's witty nephew, a young Oxford man who watches people with amusement and describes the trip in lively letters.
- Lydia MelfordJery's sister, a sheltered young woman who wants to marry for love and is watched closely by her family.
- Winifred JenkinsThe family's maid, who writes in comic, misspelled letters and dreams of a better and more fashionable life.
- Humphry ClinkerA poor, honest young postilion who is taken into the family's service and brings faith, courage and loyalty.
- Lieutenant Obadiah LismahagoA proud, argumentative Scottish soldier who enjoys debate and catches the interest of Tabitha.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 417 pages: USD 14.95 when you start free, USD 20.95 on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 417 pages: USD 23.95 when you start free, USD 29.95 on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in, 629 pages: USD 23.95 when you start free, USD 29.95 on its own.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in, 629 pages: USD 31.95 when you start free, USD 37.95 on its own.
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The Expedition of Humphry Clinker
by Tobias Smollett · 1771
A Welsh squire sets out for his health as family letters reveal quarrels, courtships and competing views of Britain.
Challenging10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Imagine a grumpy squire troubled by ill health, and a whole family packed into a coach beside him. The Expedition of Humphry Clinker is a comic novel told entirely in letters.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A gloomy squire sets out for his health
Matthew Bramble lives at Brambleton Hall in Wales. He is rich, middle-aged and tormented by gout. He writes to his doctor, Dr Lewis, like a patient who trusts nobody.
He plans to take the waters at Bath. His sister Tabitha comes along, with her dog Chowder. His nephew Jery, his niece Lydia and the maid Winifred Jenkins go too.
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What is The Expedition of Humphry Clinker about?
It follows a Welsh squire, Matthew Bramble, and his family on a tour of Britain, from Bath and London to Scotland. The story is told through their letters, mixing comedy, satire, romance and sharp pictures of daily life.
Why is it called Humphry Clinker if Bramble is the main character?
Humphry Clinker is a poor young postilion who joins the party early on and becomes a trusted servant. The title names him because his arrival and his story matter to the book, though the family as a whole is central.
Why is the novel told in letters?
Smollett uses letters from five writers so that the same events appear through different eyes. Each voice shows its writer's character, which creates humor, contrast and a fuller picture of the places and people along the road.
The author
Tobias Smollett
Scottish novelist
T. Smollett — Tobias Smollett — was a Scottish novelist whose service as a naval surgeon fed directly into his fiction. The Adventures of Roderick Random, his first novel, follows a rough-and-tumble young Scot through shipwrecks, swindles, and the brutal world of the Royal Navy.
More by Tobias Smollett
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