The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad

First published in the year 1910, the present book ‘The Secret Sharer’ is a short story written by Polish-British author Joseph Conrad. The story takes place on a sailing ship in the Gulf of Siam (now the Gulf of Thailand), at the start of a voyage with cargo for Britain. The narrator is the ship’s young captain, whose name is never given. He is unfamiliar with both his ship and his crew, having joined the ship only a fortnight earlier, and unsure of his ability to exert his authority over the officers and crew who have been together for some time. He makes the point several times that he is the “stranger” on board.