Somerset Maugham's sea tale follows Dr. Saunders as he encounters the cunning Captain Nichols and a fugitive named Fred Blake while traveling through the Pacific. When the three men seek shelter from a storm on the island of Kanda, they meet the generous Erik Christessen, setting in motion a tense drama of ambition and deception. Originally developed from a passage in Maugham's earlier novel The Moon and Sixpence, this gripping story explores the darker currents that run beneath seemingly civilized encounters.
