The Secret Agent Chapter Summary & Analysis | Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Summary

The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, is a classic novel based on actual events, including the attempt to blow up the Greenwich Observatory in 1894. The fictionalized tale revolves around a beautiful, young wife, her simple-minded brother, and her devoted but tortured husband. The novel is a mixture of love story, espionage, and mystery that continues to entertain many years after its original publication date.

Mr. Verloc leaves his shop in the charge of his brother-in-law. He's unconcerned, because the shop gets little business, and his wife is there to care for his brother-in-law. The shop is in the front of his small, brick house. The windows display different magazines and photographs, clearly marking the place as a pornography store. They also sell inks and papers, which, when a young man came inside for the first time and found Mrs. Verloc working the counter, are the items most often sold.