A novel called "Fan-Tan" co-written by Marlon Brando in the late 1970's is to be posthumously published in the US by Alfred A. Knopf, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The novel focuses on a high-seas adventurer (loosely based on Brando himself) who falls for a female Asian pirate and embarks on a mission to steal silver from a British ship.

Publishers Weekly called the book a "rollicking high-seas saga".

The book was co-written with filmmaker Donald Cammell. But Brando, for unkmown reasons, balked at publishing the novel.

Cammell committed suicide in 1996 and Brando died at the age of 80 last year. Their estates sold the novel to Knopf for an undisclosed amount.