Heart of Darkness 1899 is a novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad about a voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State in the heart of Africa by the storys narrator Charles Marlow Marlow tells his story to friends aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames London England This setting provides the frame for Marlows story of his obsession with the ivory trader Kurtz which enables Conrad to create a parallel between London and Afri...