Set in the Malay Archipelago, this novel not only provides a gripping account of maritime adventure and romance, but also an exotic tale of the East. It explores the dilemmas of conscience, of moral isolation, of loyalty and betrayal confronting a sensitive individual whose romantic quest for an honourable ideal are tested to the limit.

Lord Jim tells the story of a young, idealistic Englishman--'as unflinching as a hero in a book'--who is disgraced by an act of cowardice while serving as an officer on the Patna, a merchant-ship sailing from 'an Eastern port' with a party of Muslim pilgrims. His life is blighted: an isolated scandal assumes horrifying proportions. An older man, Marlow, befriends Jim, but his efforts to find him employment meet with little success until, at last, he is able to establish him in Patusan, a remote native settlement on one of the islands of the Malay Archipelago.