8 h 1 minAudiobook8 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 happens when a captain’s hardest choice is one no order can settle?
Joseph Conrad’s 'Twixt Land & Sea brings together three long tales of ships, harbours and private doubts. In A Smile of Fortune, a young captain searches for cargo in a tropical port. Alfred Jacobus offers a deal involving potatoes, but the offer draws the captain into a strange household, where Jacobus’s daughter Alice stirs his curiosity.
In The Secret Sharer, a captain on his first command hides Leggatt in his cabin, keeping him out of sight of the crew. Freya of the Seven Isles turns to the Malay seas, where Freya Nelson loves Captain Jasper Allen and draws the admiration of Dutch lieutenant Heemskirk. Across these stories, work, loneliness and desire put private choices under pressure.
What you’ll discover
- A troubling business offer Follow a search for cargo into a household the young captain cannot fully understand.
- A stranger in hiding Feel the strain of concealment as a captain keeps Leggatt hidden from his crew.
- Love among the islands Meet spirited Freya, her proud English suitor, and the Dutch lieutenant who resents him.
- The sea as work Enter ships and harbours where earning a living brings doubts, temptations and uneasy dealings.
- Choices without neat morals Settle into slow, brooding tales that leave room for uncertainty rather than easy answers.
Who will love it
For readers who love sea stories with a thoughtful edge, captains facing private tests of loyalty, and love and secrecy among tropical ports and islands.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A young captain waits in a tropical port
- A deal that leads into a strange house
- A new captain finds a stranger at his ladder
- Hiding a double in the captain's own cabin
- A love story in the islands goes wrong
- What the three tales share and how they are told
Who’s who
- The young captain of A Smile of FortuneA newly commanding sea captain who tells his own tale, eager to find a cargo and unsure whom to trust in a tropical port.
- Alfred JacobusA smooth ship chandler in the island port, who supplies vessels, knows all the local news and always has a business offer ready.
- AliceJacobus's daughter, first seen in a garden, who draws the captain's curiosity and stays partly hidden from view.
- The captain of The Secret SharerA young man on his first command, unsure of his crew and of himself, who takes a risk on a stranger.
- LeggattThe chief mate of the Sephora, who swims to the captain's ship at night and needs a place to hide.
- Freya NelsonA spirited young woman of the islands, devoted to her father and in love with a sea captain.
- Jasper AllenA proud young English captain and owner of the brig Bonito, who hopes to win Freya and a secure future.
- HeemskirkA stiff Dutch naval lieutenant commanding a gunboat, who admires Freya and resents her English suitor.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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'Twixt Land & Sea
by Joseph Conrad · 1912
A young captain hides a stranger in his cabin, risking his command on a secret.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A young captain waits in a tropical port
A Smile of Fortune opens with a young captain who tells his own story. He has a ship in his charge and he is keen to prove himself as a commander. The ship comes into a small island port, where a cargo must be found before the voyage can go on. He is impatient, a little proud, and eager to show that he is no fool in business.
The port is hot, slow and full of gossip. Ashore, the captain deals with the people who live off passing ships. Chief among them is Alfred Jacobus, a ship chandler, a man who supplies vessels and who knows every scrap of news in the place. Jacobus is smooth and watchful, and he seems always to have an offer ready.
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What is Twixt Land and Sea about?
It is a book of three tales by Joseph Conrad. Each follows a sea captain or sailor facing a private test, whether in love, trade or loyalty, in ports and waters of the East.
What is The Secret Sharer about?
A young captain on his first command finds a swimming stranger beside his ship at night and hides him in his cabin. The tale is about loyalty, secrecy and the doubts of a new commander.
What does the title Twixt Land and Sea mean?
Twixt is an old short form of betwixt, meaning between. The title points to people who sit between shore and ship, and between safety and risk, which fits all three tales.
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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