"Yanko Goorall", a Polish immigrant en route for America is shipwrecked on the shores of Kent, England. The name he assumes is a corruption of his actual name, Janko Góral, which means "Johnny Highlander" in Polish. Speaking no English, he is treated as a madman and is whipped, stoned, beaten and imprisoned by the locals. Eventually he is given a job by a Mr. Swaffer, learns to speak English, and falls in love with Amy Foster, an English girl who had shown him kindness. The character of Yanko Goorall shares some similarities with Conrad himself. Like Yanko, Conrad too is a Pole living in England, far from his native land. The book is believed to reflect Conrad's own social alienation in English society. The title of a modern movie adaptation of Amy Foster is called "Swept from the Sea", which is how some people may know of this story.