Summary
Summary of The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents
The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 7 h 50 min6 h 15 min fast, 9 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 112,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1893by Arthur Conan Doyle
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
A stranger stands against armed cruelty
In a Paris merchant’s house, Adele Catinat and her cousin Amory face a threat backed by law: rough dragoons are ordered into their home. Both cousins are Huguenots, and their faith makes them targets. When Amory returns to his duties at Versailles, he leaves Adele in the care of Amos Green, a quiet trader from the American woods.
Amos answers the soldiers’ bullying with direct action, holding their captain by the ankles over the street. His courage exposes the cruelty hidden behind official authority.
Key idea 2
Private ambition threatens a whole people
Madame de Maintenon offers Louis XIV a quiet room where he can feel soothed and corrected.
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Key idea 3
Calm preparation outlasts a failed mission
Sent to fetch the Archbishop of Paris, Amory and Amos ride into a trap arranged by Montespan’s brother Vivonne.
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Key idea 4
Amory chooses belief over royal favor
Amory and Amos escape their cell to stop Montespan’s execution, risking themselves for a woman caught in deadly court rivalries.
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Key idea 5
Friends carry the refugees toward freedom
Ephraim Savage takes the refugees aboard the Golden Rod and tricks the royal officers pursuing them.
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Key idea 6
Rescue leads into another uncertain refuge
In Quebec, Amory receives a quiet signal of rescue: the gold brooch he once gave Amos taps against his chest through a porthole.
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Key idea 7
Love calls for courage under siege
After discovering the destroyed garrison at Fort Poitou, the friends hurry back to Sainte Marie.
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Key idea 8
Sincere conviction can still cause harm
The conflict reaches beyond cruel rulers and innocent victims.
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Key idea 9
Quiet plans protect friendship and conscience
The journey connects a merchant’s home, a royal court, an ocean crossing and the forests of New France.
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Who it’s for
This book suits readers who love swift historical adventure, palace intrigue and frontier survival. It also rewards anyone curious about the Huguenots and the court of Louis XIV.
What this book is
Picture a bear cub the size of a loaf sinking its teeth into the stocking of an old Paris servant. A young man from the American woods arrives at the house of a Huguenot cloth merchant, just as the king of France prepares to close the door on Protestants.
The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents is a historical adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. It follows a family of French Protestants from the court of Louis XIV to the forests of New France.
In this summary
- 1A stranger stands against armed crueltyFree
- 2Private ambition threatens a whole people
- 3Calm preparation outlasts a failed mission
- 4Amory chooses belief over royal favor
- 5Friends carry the refugees toward freedom
- 6Rescue leads into another uncertain refuge
- 7Love calls for courage under siege
- 8Sincere conviction can still cause harm
- 9Quiet plans protect friendship and conscience
A Huguenot house in Paris shelters a stranger
The story opens on Rue St. Martin in Paris. In a tall merchant's house, Adele Catinat sits with her cousin Amory de Catinat, a captain in the king's Blue Guard. Both are Huguenots, French Protestants, and the law is turning against them. A blue paper arrives ordering the house to lodge twenty rough dragoons.
Then a rider from New York dismounts at the door. Amos Green is a broad, quiet young trader who has spent his life in the woods.
Amory must return to Versailles, so he asks Amos to guard his cousin. The dragoons take over the house and frighten Adele. Amory returns to find Amos holding Captain Dalbert by the ankles over the street. The captain breaks his word the moment he is pulled up. Old Prince de Condé, passing in his coach, ends the fight with a single order.
Plain courage can stand up to cruelty that hides behind a uniform.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
Why does Louis strip Amory of his post?
Right. “Amory refuses to abandon his belief, and he loses his position in the king's service for it.”Not quite. “Amory refuses to abandon his belief, and he loses his position in the king's service for it.”
What does Maintenon promise in return for marriage to the king?
Right. “In return she must lend her weight to driving Huguenots from France.”Not quite. “In return she must lend her weight to driving Huguenots from France.”
What do Amory and Amos gain from their different strengths?
Right. “Soon each saves the other, and each learns from the other's strength.”Not quite. “Soon each saves the other, and each learns from the other's strength.”
Go deeper: the whole of The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents
About 8 h 10 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 112,200 words
- Reading timeAbout 7 h 50 min
Questions about The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents
What is The Refugees by Arthur Conan Doyle about?
It follows a Huguenot family and their American friend as persecution under Louis XIV drives them from Paris and Versailles across the Atlantic. Their adventures carry them through shipwreck, a Quebec escape and an Iroquois siege in the Canadian forest.
Who are Amory de Catinat and Amos Green?
Amory is a French Huguenot captain in the king's guard who must choose between rank and faith. Amos is a young trader from New York who knows the woods and becomes his closest friend and rescuer.
Is The Refugees a true story?
It is a novel, but it uses real history. Louis XIV, Madame de Maintenon, Frontenac, Condé and Du Lhut appear, and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 drives the plot. The main family is invented.
What does the Edict of Nantes mean in the book?
It is the law issued by Henry IV that gave French Protestants the right to worship. In the story the king is pressed to cancel it, and that decision sends the Huguenots into exile.
Is The Refugees easy to read?
Yes, Doyle writes in short, lively chapters with plenty of dialogue, humor and cliffhangers. Its mix of court scenes, sea voyages and woodland chases keeps the story moving and easy to follow.
Cite this edition
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-refugees-a-tale-of-two-continents.
Doyle, A. C. (2026). The refugees: A tale of two continents. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-refugees-a-tale-of-two-continents (Original work published 1893)
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-refugees-a-tale-of-two-continents.
@book{doyle2026refugees,
author = {Doyle, Arthur Conan},
title = {The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-refugees-a-tale-of-two-continents},
note = {First published 1893}
}
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