num_pages: 486
description: Chance (1914) was the first of Conrad's novels to bring him popular success and it holds a unique place among his works. It tells the story of Flora de Barral, a vulnerable and abandoned young girl who is "like a beggar, without a right to anything but compassion." After her bankrupt father is imprisoned, she learns the harsh fact that a woman in her position "has no resources but in herself." Her only means of action is to be what she is. Flora's long struggle to achieve some dignity and happiness makes her Conrad's most moving female character. Reflecting the contemporary interest in the New Woman and the Suffragette question, Chance also marks the final appearance of Marlow, Conrad's most effective and wise narrator. This revised edition uses the English first edition text and has a new chronology and bibliography.
language: English
title: Chance: A Tale in Two Parts
titlecomplete: Chance: A Tale in Two Parts
characters: Flora de Barral, Charles Marlow
genres: Fiction, 20th Century, Classics, English Literature, British Literature, Polish Literature, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literature, Novels
ratings_count: 753
publisher: University of Michigan Library