14 h 37 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
When war closes in and loyalties stay hidden, how can a young woman know whom to trust?
Philippa stands at the center of a world sliding toward catastrophe. In The Girl Philippa, Robert W. Chambers follows a young woman through danger and uncertainty as espionage and romance draw together. Secret information matters, people are not always what they seem, and her courage and loyalty face the pressure of war.
Published in 1916, while fighting continues in Europe, the novel brings the urgency of its time to a brisk, colorful story. Chambers blends love, adventure and divided loyalties rather than offering a realistic account of the trenches. His focus is the human struggle: ordinary courage, strong feelings and the uncertainty that secrecy brings.
What you’ll discover
- A heroine under pressure Follow Philippa as danger and uncertainty put her courage and loyalty to the test.
- Love amid wartime secrets Discover a romance shaped by hidden loyalties and the urgent pressures of war.
- People behind the masks Enter a world of espionage where appearances offer no clear guide to trust.
- A world facing catastrophe Feel the unease of Europe as great powers struggle and ordinary people need courage.
- Brisk and colorful storytelling Enjoy moving action and clear emotions that keep the story pressing ahead.
Who will love it
Readers who like wartime adventure with spies, secret codes and village sieges, and who also enjoy a tender friendship that grows beside the danger. It suits anyone drawn to the French countryside and to August 1914.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two officers chase a stolen secret
- A stranger asks Warner for trust
- The cashier at the Cabaret de Biribi
- Bullets on the road to Saïs
- Soap posters and a Sister's vow
- Philippa runs away from the secret service
- A false friend, a stolen girl and an airplane
- The cellar, the rope and the river
- What the story is about: courage and chosen friendship
- How the story is told and what to listen for
Who’s who
- James WarnerAn American painter of soldiers who teaches a summer class at Saïs, distrusts love, and cannot resist a chance to help someone in trouble.
- HalkettA British intelligence officer who carries half of a stolen secret across Europe and needs one trustworthy friend to hold it for him.
- PhilippaA young cabaret cashier with painted cheeks and honest gray eyes, forced to spy for her guardian, who wants a clean life and a name.
- WildresseThe cabaret owner who informs for the French government while trying to sell its secrets to others, and who keeps Philippa under his thumb.
- Sister EilaA young Irish Sister of Charity who teaches quarrymen's children at Saïs and gives her word to a stranger in trouble.
- Reginald GrayHalkett's fellow officer, who carries the other half of the stolen papers and disappears on a night road in the Vosges.
- Madame de MoidreyAn American widow at the Château des Oiseaux who offers Philippa a home and watches Warner's feelings with amused care.
- AsticotA Paris street tough and former soldier of the African battalions who attaches himself to Warner after a beating.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 14 h 37 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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La joven Philippa
by Robert W. Chambers · 1916
A cabaret cashier with painted cheeks and a painter holding a stranger's envelope meet in Ausone as war nears.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Girl Philippa is a war romance by Robert W. Chambers, the American novelist who died in 1933.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two officers chase a stolen secret
The book opens with a murder at Sarajevo and a deal between two governments. The United States agrees to share the secret of the Harkness shell, also called the candle shell, with Britain. In return, Britain will share a submarine seaplane called the flying fish. Before the exchange can be made, the plans and formula for the shell are stolen.
The British Embassy acts within hours. Two young men step aboard the Antwerp liner Zeeduyne just before the gangway rises. Their names are Halkett and Gray, and they play the part of New Zealand tennis champions. They dance, make friends, and bribe nobody, yet within a day they seem to know everyone on board.
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What is The Girl Philippa about?
It follows a British officer carrying stolen military plans, an American painter who agrees to hide them, and a cabaret cashier forced to spy. Set in the French border country in 1914, it mixes espionage, friendship and love as war breaks out.
Who is Philippa in the book?
Philippa is a young cashier at the Cabaret de Biribi in Ausone. Her guardian Wildresse makes her spy on customers. She does not know who her parents were, and she leaves him to find honest work and the friendship of Warner.
What is the Harkness shell?
It is a secret artillery shell, called the candle shell, whose plans the United States agrees to share with Britain. When the plans are stolen, two British officers chase the thieves and carry the recovered papers across Europe.
The author
Robert W. Chambers
1865–1933 · American novelist and illustrator
Robert W. Chambers was an American writer whose 1895 collection The King in Yellow became a cornerstone of weird fiction, casting its influence over H.P. Lovecraft and generations of horror writers since. He was a successful popular novelist in his day, but this early work is what endures.
More by Robert W. Chambers
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