Joseph Conrad 
Victory An Island Tale 

Victory (also published as Victory: An Island Tale) is a psychological novel by Joseph Conrad first published in 1915, through which Conrad achieved "popular success". Axel Heyst, the novel’s protagonist, was raised by his widowed father, a Swedish philosopher, in London, England, and never knew his mother. The atmosphere of Heyst’s home, with his father’s ruthless pursuit of truth and pessimistic view of humanity, warps Heyst’s mind, and after his father dies, he leaves England and becomes a rootless wanderer.