Romance

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West Margin Press, Feb 15, 2022 - Fiction - 400 pages

Romance (1903) is a novel by Ford Madox Ford and Joseph Conrad. One of just three collaborations between two of the greatest English language novelists of the twentieth century, Romance plays to the strengths of each author to weave a tale of adventure, bad luck, and political intrigue. Adapted into The Road to Romance (1927), a lost silent film, Romance remains a highly entertaining and largely forgotten work of English fiction. "What are these days to me? But that far-off day of my romance, when from between the blue and white bales in Don Ramon's darkened storeroom, at Kingston, I saw the door open before the figure of an old man with the tired, long, white face, that day I am not likely to forget." Forced to flee his native England after being accused of smuggling, John Kemp joins his cousin Carlos in Jamaica. Soon, however, he grows wary of their comrade Castro, a shadowy figure who poses a danger to Kemp's anonymity. Setting out on his own, he crosses paths with O'Brien, a notorious Irish nationalist who sees in Kemp an easy target for manipulation. Once again forced to flee for his life, Kemp searches for his cousin, only to find him on his deathbed. Left with no choice, he joins forces with Castro and the local beauty Serafina, who prove the greatest of friends. Eminently entertaining, this swashbuckling adventure is perfect for fans of Conrad and Ford, or for anyone looking to escape into a world of unending romance. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford's Romance is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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About the author (2022)

Joseph Conrad is recognized as one of the 20th century's greatest English language novelists. He was born Jozef Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski on December 3, 1857, in the Polish Ukraine. His father, a writer and translator, was from Polish nobility, but political activity against Russian oppression led to his exile. Conrad was orphaned at a young age and subsequently raised by his uncle. At 17 he went to sea, an experience that shaped the bleak view of human nature which he expressed in his fiction. In such works as Lord Jim (1900), Youth (1902), and Nostromo (1904), Conrad depicts individuals thrust by circumstances beyond their control into moral and emotional dilemmas. His novel Heart of Darkness (1902), perhaps his best known and most influential work, narrates a literal journey to the center of the African jungle. This novel inspired the acclaimed motion picture Apocalypse Now. After the publication of his first novel, Almayer's Folly (1895), Conrad gave up the sea. He produced thirteen novels, two volumes of memoirs, and twenty-eight short stories. He died on August 3, 1924, in England.