15 h 11 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 15 h 11 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A captain knows every danger in the shallows—until a stranded woman makes him doubt the course he has chosen.
In Joseph Conrad's The Rescue, Tom Lingard sails the uncertain channels off Borneo with a promise to keep. He has pledged to help Hassim, an exiled Malay prince, and his sister Immada recover their lost kingdom. His plans depend on secrecy, careful timing and fragile alliances. Then a yacht carrying wealthy Europeans runs aground near the waters he knows so well.
Among its passengers is Edith Travers, a thoughtful, restless woman drawn to Lingard's directness. Her proud husband expects the world to serve his convenience, but cannot read the danger around him. As Lingard begins the rescue, his bond with Edith pulls against his duty to his friends. Conrad lets the pressure build through heat, doubt and the captain's growing uncertainty.
What you’ll discover
- Danger in the shallows Enter a world of sandbanks and uncertain channels, where Lingard's knowledge gives him authority.
- A promise under strain Follow Hassim and Immada's hopes as their cause rests on a captain's divided loyalty.
- An unsettling bond Watch Edith and Lingard draw together while neither can easily set other loyalties aside.
- Two worlds at odds See European assumptions about rank and comfort meet dangers the yacht's passengers do not understand.
- Honor against desire Consider what faithfulness demands when a public pledge clashes with a powerful private feeling.
Who will love it
Readers who love sea stories, far islands and tides, and men torn between a sworn word and a new love. It suits anyone drawn to Conrad and to moral dilemmas.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Lingard waits with a hidden purpose
- A rescue request threatens his plans
- Gratitude becomes a binding promise
- His scheme depends on guarded waters
- The yacht brings opposing worlds together
- Edith accepts Lingard's offered trust
- Love unsettles a pledged loyalty
- The waters reflect uncertain human judgment
- Honor has limits beyond personal will
Who’s who
- Tom LingardRed-Eyed Tom, bold master of the brig Lightning, is set on restoring two exiled friends to their kingdom and prizes his ship above all.
- HassimCalm, ironic Wajo prince in exile who once saved Lingard's life and now depends on his friend to win back his country.
- ImmadaHassim's fiery young sister, who trusts Lingard like a father and fears what his new attachment may cost them.
- Edith TraversThe yacht owner's restless wife, who hungers for real feeling and finds it in Lingard's honest, passionate story.
- Mr. d'AlcacerA courteous Spanish traveler with an old sorrow, who watches events keenly and gives Lingard the name Man of Fate.
- JorgensonGaunt Norwegian ghost of a former sea captain, who guards Lingard's hidden stores and thinks the whole scheme foolish.
- CarterCheerful young officer of the yacht, who stumbles on Lingard's secret and gradually becomes his loyal helper.
- BelarabThe cautious, skeptical chief of the Shore of Refuge, whose help Lingard needs and whose hesitation slows everything.
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The Rescue
by Joseph Conrad · 1920
A becalmed captain on the Malay coast must choose between a sworn promise to two exiles and a stranded English yacht.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What would you do if a stranger's boat slid out of the dark and asked for help, just when helping him could wreck everything you have built? That is the choice facing Captain Tom Lingard in The Rescue, a sea story by Joseph Conrad.
The Rescue at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 45 min7 h fast, 10 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 125,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1920by Joseph Conrad
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A becalmed brig waits in the dark
The story starts on a windless evening near the island of Carimata. The brig Lightning lies so still that she seems bolted to her own reflection. Her master, Tom Lingard, is a bearded, red-eyed Devon man of about thirty-five, known across these seas as Red-Eyed Tom.
Lingard loves his ship. She is his kingdom, three hundred and fourteen tons of speed and obedience, and she means freedom and independence to him. He tells himself he cares for nothing living but the brig. His mate, Shaw, is a stout, fussy Englishman in an enormous dirty pith helmet who prefers clear rules. The old serang Wasub keeps the watch with rigid care.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1920
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 9 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Conrad, Joseph. The Rescue. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-rescue.
Conrad, J. (2026). The rescue. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-rescue (Original work published 1920)
Conrad, Joseph. The Rescue. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-rescue.
@book{conrad2026rescue,
author = {Conrad, Joseph},
title = {The Rescue},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-rescue},
note = {First published 1920}
}
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What is The Rescue by Joseph Conrad about?
It follows Captain Tom Lingard, a trader in the Malay Archipelago, who has sworn to restore two exiled friends to their kingdom. A stranded English yacht and its passengers disrupt his plans and force a hard choice.
When was The Rescue written and why did it take so long?
Conrad began it in the 1890s and set it aside in 1898, doubting his prose. He took it up again around 1918 and published it in 1920, after finishing other major works in between.
Is The Rescue based on a true story?
It is fiction, though set in a real region and period. Conrad drew on his own years as a seaman in the East, and on the history of Malay, Bugis and Dutch rivalry, to give the setting its detail.
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).
More by Joseph Conrad
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