Tom Lingard, captain of the vessel Lightning , is returning to the Malaysian Archipelago to fulfill his promise to an exiled Malaysian prince and princess to help them retake control of their kingdom. Lingard’s plans are interrupted when his ship encounters a small boat that’s stranded on the same island that Lingard is to rendezvous with the prince.

Upon arriving Lingard meets the boat’s passengers: Mr. Travers, a successful businessman and the boat’s owner, his wife Edith, and Mr. d’Alcacer, a Spanish acquaintance of theirs. Lingard encounters resistance from Mr. Travers, who refuses his help; but before Lingard can leave, the prince and princess make an appearance and upend Lingard’s plans. This is further complicated by Lingard’s having fallen for Edith Travers, and by the abrupt entrance of a local tribe bent on claiming the boat’s resources for themselves.

Conrad’s preface explains that work on The Rescue took over twenty years: even though he knew the direction of the story, he wasn’t convinced that he could present it clearly, so it was sidelined for years while he worked on his many other novels in the meantime.