1 h 53 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the stranger you hide aboard your ship seems closer to you than your own crew?
In Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Sharer, a young captain faces his first command as a stranger to his ship and crew. At anchor in the Gulf of Siam, he meets Leggatt, a tired swimmer who says he is chief mate of the nearby Sephora. The captain chooses to hide him.
Leggatt shares the captain’s cabin, clothes, food and secret. Each visit from the steward threatens discovery, while the captain’s older first officer senses something wrong. When the captain of the Sephora comes searching, private loyalty presses against public duty. The young commander’s authority, reputation and ship are all at risk.
What you’ll discover
- A stranger at sea Enter a quiet night at anchor where an unexpected swimmer changes the captain’s course.
- The burden of command Follow a young man who must decide alone while still unsure of himself.
- A secret within reach Feel the tension as the steward moves through the cabin where Leggatt stays hidden.
- The unsettling double Explore the captain’s bond with a stranger who seems to mirror his own self.
- Loyalty under pressure Consider what one person owes another when sympathy puts duty and authority at risk.
Who will love it
For readers who love short, tense stories, sea fiction, and tales told from inside one troubled mind. It also suits anyone new to Conrad.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A young captain stands alone on deck
- An odd decision brings an odd discovery
- The swimmer tells his dangerous story
- Hiding a man in plain sight
- The other captain comes looking
- Doubles, secrets and the test of command
Who’s who
- The captainA young man in his first command, unsure of himself and of his crew, who tells the story and must prove his nerve.
- LeggattThe chief mate of the Sephora, who comes out of the sea one night and asks the captain to hide him.
- The chief mateThe captain's older first officer, a fussy man with fixed opinions, who senses that something is wrong on board.
- The captain of the SephoraA nervous, troubled man who comes looking for his missing officer and wants the matter settled quietly.
- The stewardThe servant who moves about the captain's cabin and so threatens the secret every time he enters.
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 1 h 53 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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El copartícipe secreto
by Joseph Conrad · 1910
A young captain hides a fugitive in his cabin, risking his authority, his reputation and his ship.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A young captain stands alone on deck
The story opens at the head of the Gulf of Siam. A sailing ship lies at anchor near some low islands, and the narrator looks out over a calm sea. He is the new captain. He has held the post for only a short time, and he has never commanded a ship before. Nobody on board knew him before he came, and he did not know them.
He feels this keenly. The crew, he thinks, are watching to see what sort of man he is. His chief mate is older, fussy and full of fixed opinions, and the narrator suspects the man thinks he deserved the command himself. The captain wonders how he will measure up. He is not sure what he will do when real trouble comes, and he says so with a frankness that makes him easy to trust.
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What is The Secret Sharer about?
It is about a young sea captain on his first command who shelters a fugitive officer from another ship. The tale follows the secret he must keep, the risks he takes and what the stranger shows him about himself.
Who is the secret sharer in the story?
The secret sharer is Leggatt, the swimmer the captain hides in his cabin. He shares the captain's room and secret, and he also seems to share his nature, which is why the captain thinks of him as a double.
Is The Secret Sharer based on a true story?
Conrad was inspired by a real event on a ship, the Cutty Sark, where an officer killed a seaman and escaped. The tale itself is fiction. Conrad wrote it in 1909, and it appeared in 1910.
The author
Joseph Conrad
1857–1924 · Polish-British novelist
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) was a Polish-British writer born in Berdychiv, then in the Russian Empire and now in Ukraine. He worked at sea before settling in England. He wrote in English. His works include Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904), and The Secret Agent (1907).
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