# Tonker — The Book of Wonder character guide

> Tonker in The Book of Wonder by Lord Dunsany.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** young Tonker, Tommy, Tommy Tonker

**First appearance:** 0006-probable-adventure-of-the-three-literary-men

## Snapshot

A likely lad apprenticed to the burglar Nuth, Tommy Tonker learns to cross bare boards and creaky stairs in silence — until his master proposes a job beyond all reasonable fear.

## Who they are

Tonker is a country woman's ambitious son, taken on by the notorious Nuth after a jeweller's reference and trained in the quiet crafts of other people's houses. His pride in the Lord Castlenorman affair and his reverence for Nuth's genius leave him unable to refuse the old man's next proposal, though he argues and expostulates and would rather not go. His apprenticeship is the hinge on which the tale's descent toward the dreadful wood turns.

## In the story

### [How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art Upon the Gnoles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_wonder_se/chapters/how-nuth-would-have-practised-his-art-upon-the-gnoles)

The likely lad apprenticed to Nuth; he is captured by the gnoles during the burglary.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_wonder_se/characters/tonker
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_wonder_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_wonder_se/characters