The central character of Conrad's great work is an Afro-Caribbean man who is ill at sea while aboard the trading ship Narcissus. Due to the offensiveness of the original title, "The Nigger of the Narcissus," the book was renamed "The Children of the Sea" for this 1897 US edition. The original title had been controversial in England, with one reviewer calling it "the ugliest conceivable title." American reviewers were mixed, with one praising the new title for "superior refinement" and another arguing it "insulted the public by imputing prudery to the American reader." This allegory about isolation and solidarity would undoubtedly have more readers if it weren't for its title.
