Almayer's Folly

Almayer’s Folly is a book by Polish-British writer Joseph Conrad, first published in 1895. Set in the late nineteenth century, the book tells the story of Kaspar Almayer, a Dutch trader who purchased a lavish house in Borneo in the assumption that he would be able to trade with the British when they arrived. However, they did not, and his house remained unfinished and became known as Almayer's folly to passing Dutch seamen. Meanwhile, his Malayan wife (fed up with her husbands aimless dreaming of riches) is determined that their daughter Nina marries a native man, and tries to arrange a marriage between Nina and a Malayan prince. The same prince tells Almayer that he can help him find the gold mine that he has long been searching for.

Alamyer's Folly was Conrad's first novel and was adapted into a film in 2011.

This book has 62,904 words, and was originally published in 1895.