Victory Part 1 Chapter 1

In which the solitary and inscrutable Axel Heyst dwells on the remote island of Samburan, custodian of a failed coal enterprise and enigma to the business world that rings hollow with notions of profit and progress. His presence, marked by an air of courteous reserve and dreams of tropical advancement, entwines with the languid, almost spectral life of the islands, as though bound by an unseen charm to this distant and quiet outpost.