<p>’Twixt Land and Sea is a collection of Joseph Conrad’s three short stories—“A Smile of Fortune” “The Secret Sharer” and “Freya of the Seven Isles”—published together in a single volume as Conrad meant them to be.</p><p>In “A Smile of Fortune” a ship’s captain meets the seemingly genial Mr. Jacobus and his irritable brother while embarking in the tropics. One a respectable businessman with a considerable reputation the other a confessed rogue and entrepreneur with no reputation left to lose the captain is at a loss to determine which he should befriend. In this masterly tale of misplaced loyalty family feuds and illicit bargaining the captain finds himself the unwitting partner in a deeply unorthodox transaction.</p><p>In “The Secret Sharer” Leggatt formerly chief mate of the Sephora a neighboring ship in the Gulf sneaks onto a young untested captain’s ship and joins him on deck. Leggatt admits to killing a fellow crewman a few weeks ago for which he was subsequently stripped of his duties and kept under arrest onboard. The captain hides him from his own crew … and must decide his fate.</p><p>Conrad explores how the lust for power can drive men to greatness—or its opposite—in “Freya of the Seven Isles” a sweeping saga set against a turbulent background of barely suppressed hostilities between Dutch and British merchant navies in the Indian Ocean basin.</p>
