Atlantic. All its phases were familiar enough to me, every characteristic, all the alternatives which were likely to face me on the high seas—everything! except the novel responsibility of command. But I took heart from the reasonable thought that the ship was like other ships, the men like other men, and that the sea was not likely to keep any special surprises expressly for my discomfiture.

Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s short story ‘The Secret Sharer’, first published in 1910, Peter Fudakowski’s 2014 Secret Sharer film is a contemporary fable told with epic beauty, humour and a twist in its tale. Secret Sharer is a romantic and sensuous moral story about a young man’s journey into maturity through challenging human relationships on the high seas.

Bloomsbury Reader’s edition of The Secret Sharer includes Conrad’s original text, Peter Fudakowski’s screenplay, exclusive images from the film, as well as two invaluable essays by literary critic, Gene M. Moore, which explore the fiction of Joseph Conrad, and its inexhaustible appeal for screen and theater adaptations.