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A Town Like Alice
Nevil Shute's most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the Malayan jungle during World War II to the rugged Australian outback.
Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children. A few years after the war, Jean is back in England, the nightmare behind her. However, an unexpected inheritance inspires her to return to Malaya to give something back to the villagers who saved her life. Jean's travels leads her to a desolate Australian outpost called Willstown, where she finds a challenge that will draw on all the resourcefulness and spirit that carried her through her war-time ordeals.
Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children. A few years after the war, Jean is back in England, the nightmare behind her. However, an unexpected inheritance inspires her to return to Malaya to give something back to the villagers who saved her life. Jean's travels leads her to a desolate Australian outpost called Willstown, where she finds a challenge that will draw on all the resourcefulness and spirit that carried her through her war-time ordeals.
359 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
About the author
Nevil Shute
73 books1,006 followersNevil Shute Norway was a popular British novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer.
He used Nevil Shute as his pen name, and his full name in his engineering career, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.
He lived in Australia for the ten years before his death.
He used Nevil Shute as his pen name, and his full name in his engineering career, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.
He lived in Australia for the ten years before his death.
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November 24, 2019
”I suppose it is because I have lived rather a restricted life myself that I have found so much enjoyment in remembering what I have learned in these last years about brave people and strange scenes. I have sat here day after day this winter, sleeping a good deal in my chair, hardly knowing if I was in London or the Gulf country, dreaming of the blazing sunshine, of poddy-dodging and black stockmen, of Cairns and of Green Island. Of a girl that I met forty years too late, and of her life in that small town that I shall never see again, that holds so much of my affection.”
There was a 1981 mini-series starring Bryan Brown and Helen Morse.
Our narrator is a solicitor by the name of Noel Strachan who is ”as solid as the Bank of England, and as sticky as treacle.” He becomes involved with an estate that seems to be a straightforward affair, but soon it evolves into his most all consuming case.
It involves a woman named Jean Paget, to him more of a girl, but as we learn her story, we find out just how much of a woman she really is.
Paget’s story is based on true events. This story is set in Malaya, but the real story is set in Sumatra. The women and children taken by the Japanese during the war are Dutch, not British, and Nevil Shute gets many things wrong. Some of that is translation problems, and some of those are changes necessary to tell the story he wants to tell. The Japanese take all foreign nationals in Malaya prisoner. They separate the men from the women, haul the men off to camps, and don’t have a clue what to with the women and children.
So they march them in what turns out to be random directions towards mythical camps for women and children that never materialize. With every brutal mile, their ranks are thinned, and the youngest woman among them becomes their de facto leader.
Jean Paget.
She befriends a truck driver from the Australian outback, Jim Harman, who steals much needed supplies at great risk. Eventually, he is caught.
”’I stole those mucking chickens and I gave them to her. So what?’ said Joe.
The ’So what?’ turns out to be a very big deal indeed.
”’They crucified him,’ she said quietly. ‘They took us down to Kuantan, and they nailed his hands to a tree, and beat him to death. They kept us there, and made us look on while they did it.’”
This is a story that Paget tells to Noel Strachan, and he shares the story with us. Over the course of the novel, she continues to write to him about her life. Despite the age difference and the impracticality of a relationship, it is easy to see that Strachan has fallen in love with Jean Paget, and as it turned out, so did Joe Harman.
Joe Harman is based on a real man by the name of Herbert James ‘Ringer’ Edwards. He was every inch the man that Shute describes in his novel.
Look at that jaunty angle to his hat.
In this edition, there is a wonderful afterword by Jenny Colgan. She makes the case that writers, craftsmen and craftswomen, like Nevil Shute, Bernard Malamud, Elizabeth Taylor, Robertson Davies are largely forgotten by the reading community today. Interestingly enough, I have several books by all these writers in my personal library. I am the consummate pursuer of writers, exactly like Shute, who have been relegated to the past, left for dead, but who are in need of a resurrection with a new generation of readers. He has certainly left his mark on me. I think about Shute’s book On the Beach at least once a week. It is one of my favorite post-apocalyptic books. I have a feeling I will be similarly haunted by A Town Like Alice.
Nevil Shute Norway is his full name. To keep his engineering life and his writing life separated, he existed under Norway in one and Shute in the other. He became caught up in the disastrous airship craze between the world wars, and he is brought to life so vividly by David Dennington in his historical novel The Airshipmen.
Shute’s writing style is crisp, concise, and straightforward. There is romance, but he presents it in such a practical fashion that the plot never bogs down in the melodrama of star crossed lovers. ”But Shute was a storytelling craftsman to his bones; an aeronautics obsessive-- there are very few authors who are also excellent engineers. He never constructs a lazy or shoddy sentence, any more than he’d have let the wings fall off one of his aeroplanes.”
After receiving her legacy, Jean ends up in the outback of Australia, being exactly the can-do woman she was in Malaya. She wants to build the sparse few buildings of Willstown into the next Alice Springs. I find this part of the story so inspiring. She is such an natural entrepreneur. She asks the right questions. What do people need? What do people want that they don’t even know they want it yet? What must we do to make each venture profitable? How does she keep the young women from running off to the big cities? No young women means there are no young men. In many ways, she is like Bugsy Siegel who envisioned casinos in the desert. She wants to build A Town Like Alice.
She uses her legacy to build something.
There is one major plot twist which is dangled so masterfully by Shute, but the reveal is not a grand fireworks affair. That just isn’t Shute’s style. He brings it in subtly, as if to say,...of course, this is what really happened.
Poor Noel Strachan meets the girl of his dreams forty years too late, but fate does at least let him meet her. You, too, can meet Jean Paget and Joe Harman and get to know what poddy-dodging means and ringers, but more importantly, if you love a good story as well crafted as the airplanes you trust your life to, then you should be reading Nevil Shute. His books should not be forgotten. Blow the dust off them in your local library and paperback exchanges, and let his stories live in your mind as they do in mine.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visithttp://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
There was a 1981 mini-series starring Bryan Brown and Helen Morse.
Our narrator is a solicitor by the name of Noel Strachan who is ”as solid as the Bank of England, and as sticky as treacle.” He becomes involved with an estate that seems to be a straightforward affair, but soon it evolves into his most all consuming case.
It involves a woman named Jean Paget, to him more of a girl, but as we learn her story, we find out just how much of a woman she really is.
Paget’s story is based on true events. This story is set in Malaya, but the real story is set in Sumatra. The women and children taken by the Japanese during the war are Dutch, not British, and Nevil Shute gets many things wrong. Some of that is translation problems, and some of those are changes necessary to tell the story he wants to tell. The Japanese take all foreign nationals in Malaya prisoner. They separate the men from the women, haul the men off to camps, and don’t have a clue what to with the women and children.
So they march them in what turns out to be random directions towards mythical camps for women and children that never materialize. With every brutal mile, their ranks are thinned, and the youngest woman among them becomes their de facto leader.
Jean Paget.
She befriends a truck driver from the Australian outback, Jim Harman, who steals much needed supplies at great risk. Eventually, he is caught.
”’I stole those mucking chickens and I gave them to her. So what?’ said Joe.
The ’So what?’ turns out to be a very big deal indeed.
”’They crucified him,’ she said quietly. ‘They took us down to Kuantan, and they nailed his hands to a tree, and beat him to death. They kept us there, and made us look on while they did it.’”
This is a story that Paget tells to Noel Strachan, and he shares the story with us. Over the course of the novel, she continues to write to him about her life. Despite the age difference and the impracticality of a relationship, it is easy to see that Strachan has fallen in love with Jean Paget, and as it turned out, so did Joe Harman.
Joe Harman is based on a real man by the name of Herbert James ‘Ringer’ Edwards. He was every inch the man that Shute describes in his novel.
Look at that jaunty angle to his hat.
In this edition, there is a wonderful afterword by Jenny Colgan. She makes the case that writers, craftsmen and craftswomen, like Nevil Shute, Bernard Malamud, Elizabeth Taylor, Robertson Davies are largely forgotten by the reading community today. Interestingly enough, I have several books by all these writers in my personal library. I am the consummate pursuer of writers, exactly like Shute, who have been relegated to the past, left for dead, but who are in need of a resurrection with a new generation of readers. He has certainly left his mark on me. I think about Shute’s book On the Beach at least once a week. It is one of my favorite post-apocalyptic books. I have a feeling I will be similarly haunted by A Town Like Alice.
Nevil Shute Norway is his full name. To keep his engineering life and his writing life separated, he existed under Norway in one and Shute in the other. He became caught up in the disastrous airship craze between the world wars, and he is brought to life so vividly by David Dennington in his historical novel The Airshipmen.
Shute’s writing style is crisp, concise, and straightforward. There is romance, but he presents it in such a practical fashion that the plot never bogs down in the melodrama of star crossed lovers. ”But Shute was a storytelling craftsman to his bones; an aeronautics obsessive-- there are very few authors who are also excellent engineers. He never constructs a lazy or shoddy sentence, any more than he’d have let the wings fall off one of his aeroplanes.”
After receiving her legacy, Jean ends up in the outback of Australia, being exactly the can-do woman she was in Malaya. She wants to build the sparse few buildings of Willstown into the next Alice Springs. I find this part of the story so inspiring. She is such an natural entrepreneur. She asks the right questions. What do people need? What do people want that they don’t even know they want it yet? What must we do to make each venture profitable? How does she keep the young women from running off to the big cities? No young women means there are no young men. In many ways, she is like Bugsy Siegel who envisioned casinos in the desert. She wants to build A Town Like Alice.
She uses her legacy to build something.
There is one major plot twist which is dangled so masterfully by Shute, but the reveal is not a grand fireworks affair. That just isn’t Shute’s style. He brings it in subtly, as if to say,...of course, this is what really happened.
Poor Noel Strachan meets the girl of his dreams forty years too late, but fate does at least let him meet her. You, too, can meet Jean Paget and Joe Harman and get to know what poddy-dodging means and ringers, but more importantly, if you love a good story as well crafted as the airplanes you trust your life to, then you should be reading Nevil Shute. His books should not be forgotten. Blow the dust off them in your local library and paperback exchanges, and let his stories live in your mind as they do in mine.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visithttp://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
January 14, 2021
I want to pay what tribute is within my power to the most gallant lady I have ever met.
- Author's Note
I've owned a copy of A Town Like Alice for more than ten years now, and I've always stopped short of reaching for it because... it just didn't sound that interesting to me. On the whole, I'm not a huge fan of war books, especially those set within the conflict itself. But I made a mistake waiting to read this one. I've been missing out.
This is one helluva good yarn. It's all told in first person minor by a solicitor, Noel Strachan, who is the executor of the late James McFadden's estate. After he dies, Noel must locate McFadden's niece, Jean Paget, who is set to inherit his fortune, but, because McFadden didn't believe women were capable of handling their own finances, it is all tied up in a trust until Jean reaches thirty-five.
At first glance, Jean Paget is gentle-mannered and unassuming, as you might expect from a well-behaved young lady in 1940s England. But as Noel gets to know her, an unbelievable tale unravels. Jean takes him back to the jungles of Malaya, when the Japanese invaded and led her, along with a group of other women and children, on a death march across the country. Many died of disease, or malnutrition, or exhaustion. This is based on a true story of a march that took place in Sumatra.
Later in the novel, we follow Jean, through letters and anecdotes received by Noel, as she returns to Malaya to put her money into a well for the hardworking women of the village she spent several years in, as a thank you for saving her life. Then to Australia, to the lonely outpost of Willstown in search of a brave figure from her past, whose aid to the group of women in Malaya was invaluable, and had devastating consequences for him.
For an old white guy writing in the 1940s-50s (and I did have to go check it wasn't a Ms Nevil Shute), the author has done a pretty great job of writing an incredibly strong, complex female character. I love how he juxtaposed the very capable Jean Paget (and other women in this story) with the sexist conditions of James Mcfadden's will, making his lack of faith in women even more ridiculous.
He portrays the Malays as mostly kind, considerate, yet multifaceted people, though they are also noted as being uncivilized in comparison with the English women. It's hard to know whether this reflects the author's beliefs, or the characters' only. Jean is openly critical of segregation in Australia, something that I had little knowledge of prior to reading this book.
It was an engaging, gritty tale that kept me hooked from start to finish. And it had just the right amount of romance.
March 23, 2017
There are books we can't be entirely rational about. For good or bad, they push our personal buttons, and we adore or detest them beyond their own merits.
A Town Like Alice is one of those books I love beyond reason. It contains courage, determination when the odds are against you, and taking action to change others' lives and the world around you for the better. It has some bittersweet moments, as well as a little bit of romance.
Nevil Shute based this 1950 novel on a WWII story he had heard about Dutch women and children, who were Japanese prisoners of war, who were marched around Sumatra from place to place because the Japanese had no prison camp to put them in, many of them dying along the way. (As it turns out, he misunderstood the story: they didn't actually have to walk but were transported around the country.) He used this as the basis for this story of Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman who becomes the leader of a group of women and children who are forced to walk from town to town in Japanese-occupied Malaya (now Malaysia), in terrible circumstances. Along the way they meet a kind Australian POW, Joe Harman, a young man who helps them with food and other necessities and quickly becomes a friend to Jean. But Jean and Joe run into trouble when Joe steals some black Leghorn chickens for the underfed group. What happens then, and after, makes for a fascinating story.
Malaysian village
After the war, Jean inherits some money, and becomes friends with Noel Strachan, the elderly English solicitor who is her trustee. Noel is the narrator for most of the novel, and sometimes his voice gets a little dry and tedious in relating tangential details, kind of befitting an aging lawyer (I can say that :D). At the same time, he has a certain old-fashioned charm and wry humor. Noel watches Jean fall in love with a distinct feeling of regret, since her new life will take her away from England, but he continues to help her as she begins to transform the Australian outback town where she has chosen to live.
Queensland, Australia
As he decides to travel to visit Jean to help her with some legal matters, one of his law partners is concerned for his health:
February 2015 reread/buddy read with Hana.
__________________
Previous review:
This is one of my all-time favorite books. It consists of two quite different halves, with the first half relating the travails of Jean Paget and a group of English women in Malaya during WWII, and the second half about Jean's romance with an Australian man she had met briefly during her travels in Malaya and her efforts to turn his Australian town into a decent place for women and families to live.
I may be in the minority of liking the second half better than the first, not just for the romance (which is nice but doesn't take up a lot of space in the book) but more for the way in which the main character takes action to change her town. It's inspiring and enjoyable reading, even if rather deliberately paced at times. Highly recommended.
A Town Like Alice is one of those books I love beyond reason. It contains courage, determination when the odds are against you, and taking action to change others' lives and the world around you for the better. It has some bittersweet moments, as well as a little bit of romance.
Nevil Shute based this 1950 novel on a WWII story he had heard about Dutch women and children, who were Japanese prisoners of war, who were marched around Sumatra from place to place because the Japanese had no prison camp to put them in, many of them dying along the way. (As it turns out, he misunderstood the story: they didn't actually have to walk but were transported around the country.) He used this as the basis for this story of Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman who becomes the leader of a group of women and children who are forced to walk from town to town in Japanese-occupied Malaya (now Malaysia), in terrible circumstances. Along the way they meet a kind Australian POW, Joe Harman, a young man who helps them with food and other necessities and quickly becomes a friend to Jean. But Jean and Joe run into trouble when Joe steals some black Leghorn chickens for the underfed group. What happens then, and after, makes for a fascinating story.
Malaysian village
After the war, Jean inherits some money, and becomes friends with Noel Strachan, the elderly English solicitor who is her trustee. Noel is the narrator for most of the novel, and sometimes his voice gets a little dry and tedious in relating tangential details, kind of befitting an aging lawyer (I can say that :D). At the same time, he has a certain old-fashioned charm and wry humor. Noel watches Jean fall in love with a distinct feeling of regret, since her new life will take her away from England, but he continues to help her as she begins to transform the Australian outback town where she has chosen to live.
Queensland, Australia
As he decides to travel to visit Jean to help her with some legal matters, one of his law partners is concerned for his health:
"I only wish you hadn't got to put so much of your energy into this. After all, it's a fairly trivial affair."I've read this book three or four times over the years. I noticed much more this time how Noel's narration sometimes gets repetitive and tedious (I wish I had a dollar for every time a character stared at someone or said "Oh my word"). I don't know if Nevil Shute deliberately wrote it that way or if that's just his style of writing. But then there's a wonderful scene or a lovely turn of phrase, and I fall in love with this book all over again.
"I can't agree with that," I said. "I'm beginning to think that this thing is the most important business that I ever handled in my life."
In the half light he turned as she came out of the hut, and he was back in the Malay scene of six years ago. She was barefooted, and her hair hung down in a long plait, as it had been in Malaya. She was no longer the strange English girl with money; she was Mrs. Boong again, the Mrs. Boong he had remembered all those years.It's old-fashioned in many ways, but it still moves and inspires me. And for that reason, despite its occasional weaknesses, it's staying at the full five stars.
February 2015 reread/buddy read with Hana.
__________________
Previous review:
This is one of my all-time favorite books. It consists of two quite different halves, with the first half relating the travails of Jean Paget and a group of English women in Malaya during WWII, and the second half about Jean's romance with an Australian man she had met briefly during her travels in Malaya and her efforts to turn his Australian town into a decent place for women and families to live.
I may be in the minority of liking the second half better than the first, not just for the romance (which is nice but doesn't take up a lot of space in the book) but more for the way in which the main character takes action to change her town. It's inspiring and enjoyable reading, even if rather deliberately paced at times. Highly recommended.
June 29, 2017
My first read by this author and it definitely won't be my last. Felt like this was two stories held together by the indefatiable Jean Paget, she certainly is a wonderful, well written character. Loved out narrator Noel, the older, gentlemanly London soliciter who administers the estate left to Jean from an uncle she little remembers. There are no gimmicks here, just some good, old fashioned story telling with the added bonus of one learning quite a bit about Malaya, though the events here were actually perpetuated in Sumatra, and about Australia and the ghost towns left empty after the gold Rush. The author explains this and also that Jean's character was created to honor the very real woman who went through what Jean does after the Japanese invasion. It is no wonder then that I felt this part of the book was written the best.
Queensland, Australia and the stations at Wells town is the setting for the second half, connected of course by Jean and a person she meets in Malaya. He will be the reason she travels to Australia where she will make the most of her inheritance by improving the town she will soon call home. I love her character, she never gives up, plans and changes thing not to her liking and at a time when not many women had the ways nor means to do these things. I enjoyed this story immensely and loved the feelings ng I got while reading this story, especially the second half where Jean really comes into her own. Plenty of good stuff here and look forward to reading others by this author.
Queensland, Australia and the stations at Wells town is the setting for the second half, connected of course by Jean and a person she meets in Malaya. He will be the reason she travels to Australia where she will make the most of her inheritance by improving the town she will soon call home. I love her character, she never gives up, plans and changes thing not to her liking and at a time when not many women had the ways nor means to do these things. I enjoyed this story immensely and loved the feelings ng I got while reading this story, especially the second half where Jean really comes into her own. Plenty of good stuff here and look forward to reading others by this author.
October 22, 2022
Debatedly Shute's most famous work. And what can I say - well, this is a marvellous piece of fiction mainly set in 'the Far East' in Malaysia and in Australia, covering the Second World War and post-war life of the amazing Jean Paget as recounted by her solicitor. A truly wonderful, wonderful tale, by a great scribe. 8 out of 12.
2013 read
2013 read
July 6, 2021
“People who spent the war in prison camps have written a lot of books about what a bad time they had. They don’t know what it was like, not being in a camp.”
I’ve had this compact mass market paperback sitting on my bookshelf for several years. This format is one of the reasons I waited so long to pick it up! Odd bookworm that I am, I don’t like the feel of this little book in my hands. And the more years that passed by, the smaller the print seemed to get! In any case, I was in the mood for some old fashioned storytelling and let go of my little pet peeves momentarily. I’m very glad I did. I gobbled the first half up in record time (for me) during a couple of sultry days off from work. It was easy to feel the Malayan jungle and the Australian outback while reading. Lucky for me, I was sitting in the comfort of my lounge chair with a glass of iced tea rather than traipsing for months with a group of women and children across Malaya during World War II. I had no fears of contracting dysentery or malaria or any other number of tropical illnesses. All I needed was my sunscreen and my umbrella.
“It all seems so remote, as if it was something that happened to another person, years ago – something that you’d read in a book. As if it wasn’t me at all.”
The first portion of the book is Jean Paget’s story as narrated to Noel Strachan, the solicitor in charge of the estate she has just unexpectedly inherited. It’s a grueling tale of survival. It’s one that made me a huge admirer of Jean’s fortitude and resilience. After being evacuated from her temporary home in Malaya, Jean is marched for months with a group of mostly married women and children from one end of the country to the other as the Japanese have no real camp in which to place them. No one wants to take responsibility for this bunch. After their original numbers dwindle to about half, they will need to become resourceful if they are to survive the war. It is Jean that ultimately fashions an enterprising plan. Along the way, they meet an Australian ringer, Joe Harman, now a prisoner and truck driver for the Japanese army. He becomes a hero of sorts and Jean will never be able to permanently erase this tragic figure of a man from her memory. He leaves Jean with a beautiful vision of Alice Springs, a place quite far removed from the horrors of the war. He also left it forever imprinted in my own mind.
“It’s red. Red around Alice and where I come from, red earth and then, the mountains are all red. The Macdonnells and the Levis and the Kernots, great red ranges of bare hills against the blue sky. Evenings they go purple and all sorts of colours. After the wet there’s green all over them. In the dry, parts of them go silvery white with the spinifex. I suppose everybody likes his own place. The country round about the Springs is my place… The country round about the Springs is beautiful to me.”
With Jean back in England several years following the war, and with a sudden windfall of money at her (somewhat) disposal, she decides to give back to the Malayan community that saved her life. She ventures back to the scene of so much past sorrow. From here the story takes an unexpected turn and I’ll refrain from saying much more. Jean is a visionary and I give Nevil Shute a lot of credit for developing a woman with such pluck and ingenuity. The reader, along with Noel Strachan, grows to love her even more. It has a bit of a nostalgic tone when told through Noel’s vantage point across time and miles. He learns of Jean’s further adventures through a series of letters. The one thing I found odd was that I never felt any sort of emotional pull. This is very straightforward storytelling. Although a lot of the descriptions of the landscape are told with vivid detail, I didn’t necessarily feel a lot for the characters other than admiration. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Just a curious sort of observation on my part. Oh, and this was written in 1950. Reader beware of some racial slurs that troubled me despite the setting. I just can’t help noticing when these things are so glaringly obvious. Besides this, I don’t have many complaints other than these two: 1. It lost some momentum for me towards the end. 2. The dialogue became a bit sentimental and somewhat repetitive during the last few chapters. But don’t mind me. It’s still a remarkable story well worth your time. I just happened to be coming off a Susan Fletcher high shortly before this one!
From the author’s note:
“I shall be told that nothing of the sort ever happened in Malaya, and this is true. It happened in Sumatra. … I have been unable to resist the appeal of this true story, and because I want to pay what tribute is within my power to the most gallant lady I have ever met.”
I’ve had this compact mass market paperback sitting on my bookshelf for several years. This format is one of the reasons I waited so long to pick it up! Odd bookworm that I am, I don’t like the feel of this little book in my hands. And the more years that passed by, the smaller the print seemed to get! In any case, I was in the mood for some old fashioned storytelling and let go of my little pet peeves momentarily. I’m very glad I did. I gobbled the first half up in record time (for me) during a couple of sultry days off from work. It was easy to feel the Malayan jungle and the Australian outback while reading. Lucky for me, I was sitting in the comfort of my lounge chair with a glass of iced tea rather than traipsing for months with a group of women and children across Malaya during World War II. I had no fears of contracting dysentery or malaria or any other number of tropical illnesses. All I needed was my sunscreen and my umbrella.
“It all seems so remote, as if it was something that happened to another person, years ago – something that you’d read in a book. As if it wasn’t me at all.”
The first portion of the book is Jean Paget’s story as narrated to Noel Strachan, the solicitor in charge of the estate she has just unexpectedly inherited. It’s a grueling tale of survival. It’s one that made me a huge admirer of Jean’s fortitude and resilience. After being evacuated from her temporary home in Malaya, Jean is marched for months with a group of mostly married women and children from one end of the country to the other as the Japanese have no real camp in which to place them. No one wants to take responsibility for this bunch. After their original numbers dwindle to about half, they will need to become resourceful if they are to survive the war. It is Jean that ultimately fashions an enterprising plan. Along the way, they meet an Australian ringer, Joe Harman, now a prisoner and truck driver for the Japanese army. He becomes a hero of sorts and Jean will never be able to permanently erase this tragic figure of a man from her memory. He leaves Jean with a beautiful vision of Alice Springs, a place quite far removed from the horrors of the war. He also left it forever imprinted in my own mind.
“It’s red. Red around Alice and where I come from, red earth and then, the mountains are all red. The Macdonnells and the Levis and the Kernots, great red ranges of bare hills against the blue sky. Evenings they go purple and all sorts of colours. After the wet there’s green all over them. In the dry, parts of them go silvery white with the spinifex. I suppose everybody likes his own place. The country round about the Springs is my place… The country round about the Springs is beautiful to me.”
With Jean back in England several years following the war, and with a sudden windfall of money at her (somewhat) disposal, she decides to give back to the Malayan community that saved her life. She ventures back to the scene of so much past sorrow. From here the story takes an unexpected turn and I’ll refrain from saying much more. Jean is a visionary and I give Nevil Shute a lot of credit for developing a woman with such pluck and ingenuity. The reader, along with Noel Strachan, grows to love her even more. It has a bit of a nostalgic tone when told through Noel’s vantage point across time and miles. He learns of Jean’s further adventures through a series of letters. The one thing I found odd was that I never felt any sort of emotional pull. This is very straightforward storytelling. Although a lot of the descriptions of the landscape are told with vivid detail, I didn’t necessarily feel a lot for the characters other than admiration. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Just a curious sort of observation on my part. Oh, and this was written in 1950. Reader beware of some racial slurs that troubled me despite the setting. I just can’t help noticing when these things are so glaringly obvious. Besides this, I don’t have many complaints other than these two: 1. It lost some momentum for me towards the end. 2. The dialogue became a bit sentimental and somewhat repetitive during the last few chapters. But don’t mind me. It’s still a remarkable story well worth your time. I just happened to be coming off a Susan Fletcher high shortly before this one!
From the author’s note:
“I shall be told that nothing of the sort ever happened in Malaya, and this is true. It happened in Sumatra. … I have been unable to resist the appeal of this true story, and because I want to pay what tribute is within my power to the most gallant lady I have ever met.”
October 27, 2011
I couldn't tell you why I have resisted reading "A Town Like Alice" for so many years. But I did. Perhaps it is for the best whatever time it is we chose to land a particular book in our hands.
When I began to read Shute's book, I quickly fell into it. Noel Strachan is perhaps one of the most charming narrators I've encountered. Shute's use of the aging British Solicitor to unveil the story of Jean Paget drew me into the tale.
It was a simple enough matter. Strachan was hired to write the will and administer the estate of Mr. McFadden. It is the type of case that routinely crosses a lawyer's desk. The will was quite straight forward, and quite traditional. Upon McFadden's death, his estate was to go to his sister as a life estate. Upon her demise the estate was to devolve to her son. Should he predecease McFadden, the estate would go to our protagonist Jean Paget.
McFadden was easily what we would term a chauvinist today. Should Jean Paget be his heir, his estate was to be held in trust for her until the age of thirty-five. McFadden didn't believe young women had a head for handling money.
However, war has a way of causing the least favored bequests in wills to often be made. In this case World War Two left McFadden's estate to his least favored heir. It was up to Strachan to sort things out and carry out his client's last wishes.
Of course, Jean Paget was never the woman McFadden believed his niece to be. She survived a death march of non-combatant women and children following the Japanese invasion of Malaya. Her brother did not survive imprisonment in a prisoner of war camp.
Shute's portrayal of Jean and her fellow English women and their children is a tribute to the courage and endurance of those individuals who have come to be called the collateral damage of war. The Japanese have no use for these women and children. Nor do they want to waste precious resources on keeping them alive when there is the Imperial Army to feed.
Into this mix, Shute throws in a plucky Australian, Joe, conscripted by the Japanese to drive trucks of material for them. Of course, Joe and Jean meet. He admires this young woman whom he believes to be married. On more than one occasion Joe manages to smuggle food, medicines, and soaps to the wandering band of women and children. However, war rarely leaves possible lovers in a situation that allows a relationship to blossom. Joe and Jean are separated under circumstances which this reviewer will not reveal.
As a bit of an aside, I found Shute's depiction of Japanese troops and their behavior toward the British women and children one of the most sensitive and humane portrayals in literature and history. Interestingly, it is the line soldier who exhibits the greatest humanity to their charges. It is the Imperial Officer who turns a blind eye to the plight of non-combatants.
It would be tempting to say that "A Town Like Alice" is a sentimental romance and leave it at that. However, it goes beyond those limits in a depiction of courage and survival, while acting selflessly, and a life lived happily ever after. I'm told that happens some times. I wouldn't attempt to deny that degree of happiness to those that find it, nor would I sneer at it because I hadn't necessarily found it.
I will admit at this juncture that I am unabashedly a romantic. Nevil Shute wrote a story which enchanted me with its charm, courage, and passion that was truly unbridled only after a wedding ring was slipped onto a finger, and a marriage meant to last a lifetime. Old fashioned, you say?
"Too right. It's a right crook affair." By all means, be welcome to those sentiments if you have succumbed to the cynicism of our supposedly modern world.
There is nothing in this book to dislike unless you simply refuse to believe in the possibility of happy endings. They do happen, you know.
Oh, there's a bit of Neal Strachan in me. I am an aging lawyer as he was. Jean Paget is one of those women capable of enchanting many a man with her mind, her intellect, her toughness, and her capacity to love, not only a man, but life and all it encompasses.
Too right, Mr. Shute. Too right.
When I began to read Shute's book, I quickly fell into it. Noel Strachan is perhaps one of the most charming narrators I've encountered. Shute's use of the aging British Solicitor to unveil the story of Jean Paget drew me into the tale.
It was a simple enough matter. Strachan was hired to write the will and administer the estate of Mr. McFadden. It is the type of case that routinely crosses a lawyer's desk. The will was quite straight forward, and quite traditional. Upon McFadden's death, his estate was to go to his sister as a life estate. Upon her demise the estate was to devolve to her son. Should he predecease McFadden, the estate would go to our protagonist Jean Paget.
McFadden was easily what we would term a chauvinist today. Should Jean Paget be his heir, his estate was to be held in trust for her until the age of thirty-five. McFadden didn't believe young women had a head for handling money.
However, war has a way of causing the least favored bequests in wills to often be made. In this case World War Two left McFadden's estate to his least favored heir. It was up to Strachan to sort things out and carry out his client's last wishes.
Of course, Jean Paget was never the woman McFadden believed his niece to be. She survived a death march of non-combatant women and children following the Japanese invasion of Malaya. Her brother did not survive imprisonment in a prisoner of war camp.
Shute's portrayal of Jean and her fellow English women and their children is a tribute to the courage and endurance of those individuals who have come to be called the collateral damage of war. The Japanese have no use for these women and children. Nor do they want to waste precious resources on keeping them alive when there is the Imperial Army to feed.
Into this mix, Shute throws in a plucky Australian, Joe, conscripted by the Japanese to drive trucks of material for them. Of course, Joe and Jean meet. He admires this young woman whom he believes to be married. On more than one occasion Joe manages to smuggle food, medicines, and soaps to the wandering band of women and children. However, war rarely leaves possible lovers in a situation that allows a relationship to blossom. Joe and Jean are separated under circumstances which this reviewer will not reveal.
As a bit of an aside, I found Shute's depiction of Japanese troops and their behavior toward the British women and children one of the most sensitive and humane portrayals in literature and history. Interestingly, it is the line soldier who exhibits the greatest humanity to their charges. It is the Imperial Officer who turns a blind eye to the plight of non-combatants.
It would be tempting to say that "A Town Like Alice" is a sentimental romance and leave it at that. However, it goes beyond those limits in a depiction of courage and survival, while acting selflessly, and a life lived happily ever after. I'm told that happens some times. I wouldn't attempt to deny that degree of happiness to those that find it, nor would I sneer at it because I hadn't necessarily found it.
I will admit at this juncture that I am unabashedly a romantic. Nevil Shute wrote a story which enchanted me with its charm, courage, and passion that was truly unbridled only after a wedding ring was slipped onto a finger, and a marriage meant to last a lifetime. Old fashioned, you say?
"Too right. It's a right crook affair." By all means, be welcome to those sentiments if you have succumbed to the cynicism of our supposedly modern world.
There is nothing in this book to dislike unless you simply refuse to believe in the possibility of happy endings. They do happen, you know.
Oh, there's a bit of Neal Strachan in me. I am an aging lawyer as he was. Jean Paget is one of those women capable of enchanting many a man with her mind, her intellect, her toughness, and her capacity to love, not only a man, but life and all it encompasses.
Too right, Mr. Shute. Too right.
September 25, 2015
I wanted to read this book for such a very long time. I don't know why. But finally it was done, and the tick on the Bucket List is happily added.
The story is based on a true story and therefore can be expected to be treated with utmost respect. Fact and fiction is entwined here in such a way that the distinction between tale and truth becomes impossible. However, the impact of the story is very real and very striking.
During WWII a group of English women were captured by the Japanese in the vicinity of Padang, and forced to wander around in Sumatra for two and a half years. In the real story, eighty women and children formed the initial group and less than thirty survived. The main character in this book, was one of them. In the novel however, the number of women who started out was 32 and end with something like 16.
Malaysia, instead of Sumatra, is the focal country in this story by the author's own admission and choice. The women and children obviously suffered an unimaginable ordeal which could only be stressed in a novel like this, written by a master storyteller. There was no prisoner camps for them set up and the Japanese did not want to take responsibility for them. Their solution was to send them all over the place, from town to town on foot, covering hundreds of miles, hoping to unofficially terminate their lives through exhaustion and starvation. It worked. The Japanese military leaders almost succeeded. Eventually, at the end of the war, the remaining members of the group were repatriated.
Six years after the war, our protagonist, Miss Jean Paget , the young unmarried leader of the group, decided to return to the Malaysian village who took care of them for three years, and repay them for their kindness. And then she had to find the Australian soldier who risked his life for them . She wanted to find closure, but also give back in her own way.
It is a shocking story. Heart-breaking with out a doubt. However, a love story was waiting in the wings. An amazing tale.
This is not a drama in the true sense of the word. I got the impression that the author wanted to honor a friend's life story by turning it into a novel.
In comparison with the novels, "Garden of Evening Mist' , as well as "The Gift of Rain", authored by Tan Twang Eng, as well as numerous others, this tale softened the experiences of the prisoners considerably. Nevil Shute portrays the ground level Japanese troops as humane towards these wandering innocent victims of the war. It is probably one of the outstanding features in the tale.
The geographical and historical detail in the book are impressive. In the end it becomes the story of a town being born when one woman explores the possibilities embedded in a remote Australian community. The story celebrates courage and endurance, integrity and strength of character. The narrator is her solicitor, Neal Strachan, who goes to great lengths to defend his client's courage and self confidence in a totally chauvinistic environment. The book was originally published in 1950. It must have stirred a few established social mores and values at the time.
I'm not sure where fact and fiction should split up. It doesn't really matter either. The author also spent a great part of the second half of the tale turning it into a travel journal. Well, sort of. The charm and uniqueness of the Australian outback as well as the beauty of Malaysia is presented in fascinating detail.
This was a good read in so many many ways.
The story is based on a true story and therefore can be expected to be treated with utmost respect. Fact and fiction is entwined here in such a way that the distinction between tale and truth becomes impossible. However, the impact of the story is very real and very striking.
During WWII a group of English women were captured by the Japanese in the vicinity of Padang, and forced to wander around in Sumatra for two and a half years. In the real story, eighty women and children formed the initial group and less than thirty survived. The main character in this book, was one of them. In the novel however, the number of women who started out was 32 and end with something like 16.
Malaysia, instead of Sumatra, is the focal country in this story by the author's own admission and choice. The women and children obviously suffered an unimaginable ordeal which could only be stressed in a novel like this, written by a master storyteller. There was no prisoner camps for them set up and the Japanese did not want to take responsibility for them. Their solution was to send them all over the place, from town to town on foot, covering hundreds of miles, hoping to unofficially terminate their lives through exhaustion and starvation. It worked. The Japanese military leaders almost succeeded. Eventually, at the end of the war, the remaining members of the group were repatriated.
Six years after the war, our protagonist, Miss Jean Paget , the young unmarried leader of the group, decided to return to the Malaysian village who took care of them for three years, and repay them for their kindness. And then she had to find the Australian soldier who risked his life for them . She wanted to find closure, but also give back in her own way.
It is a shocking story. Heart-breaking with out a doubt. However, a love story was waiting in the wings. An amazing tale.
This is not a drama in the true sense of the word. I got the impression that the author wanted to honor a friend's life story by turning it into a novel.
In comparison with the novels, "Garden of Evening Mist' , as well as "The Gift of Rain", authored by Tan Twang Eng, as well as numerous others, this tale softened the experiences of the prisoners considerably. Nevil Shute portrays the ground level Japanese troops as humane towards these wandering innocent victims of the war. It is probably one of the outstanding features in the tale.
The geographical and historical detail in the book are impressive. In the end it becomes the story of a town being born when one woman explores the possibilities embedded in a remote Australian community. The story celebrates courage and endurance, integrity and strength of character. The narrator is her solicitor, Neal Strachan, who goes to great lengths to defend his client's courage and self confidence in a totally chauvinistic environment. The book was originally published in 1950. It must have stirred a few established social mores and values at the time.
I'm not sure where fact and fiction should split up. It doesn't really matter either. The author also spent a great part of the second half of the tale turning it into a travel journal. Well, sort of. The charm and uniqueness of the Australian outback as well as the beauty of Malaysia is presented in fascinating detail.
This was a good read in so many many ways.
June 12, 2022
This book captured me, heart and soul. I've read a lot of great books this year, and this goes right up there at the top of the list. It was an intricately plotted storyline with a lot of details that were vital, so you had to pay attention right from the start. All the characters were beautifully realized, as were the different settings of Malaya during WWII, post war England, and the outback of Australia. Jean Paget was a quiet, intelligent, competent girl who always seemed to know what to do, and did it with courage. Joe Harmon was the Aussie she met during her time in Malaya, knew only briefly, but could never forget. I have to admit that he became another of those fictional heroes that I fell in love with. Noel Strahan is the elderly lawyer who is handling an inheritance that Jean learns about after the war, and the narrator. He learns Jean's story about her war experiences, halfway falls in love with her himself, but is instrumental in helping her find her happiness in Australia.
I saw this mini-series in 1986 when it was on television and read the book afterwards, so this was my second read, but it might as well have been my first for all I remembered. I have been enthralled for the last several days and am sad to be leaving this world and these people. Nevil Shute now has to be added to honored author status and I'll be hunting down his books. I join my Goodreads friends who have been shouting his praise.
I saw this mini-series in 1986 when it was on television and read the book afterwards, so this was my second read, but it might as well have been my first for all I remembered. I have been enthralled for the last several days and am sad to be leaving this world and these people. Nevil Shute now has to be added to honored author status and I'll be hunting down his books. I join my Goodreads friends who have been shouting his praise.
November 1, 2020
5 stars
This is Nevil Shute's best novel. I just finished my second read. Actually I listened to it, narrated beautifully by Robin Bailey. It's a fabulous long story about war, love, and one woman, Jean Paget, who has the smarts, guts and generosity to save and improve the lives of everyone who comes within her sphere in every situation in which she finds herself . I grew to admire and adore not only Jean but also the 2 other main characters in this story as it moved from WWII Malaya to London and then to the Australian outback.
As the story grew to a close tears welled up in my eyes for I knew that my time with these lovely people was coming to an end. I wanted to stop listening so that the story wouldn't end but I couldn't stop because I wanted to hear how it ended. I will not forget Jean Paget nor her story for a very long time.
This is such a beautiful story well told.
Highly recommended.
This is Nevil Shute's best novel. I just finished my second read. Actually I listened to it, narrated beautifully by Robin Bailey. It's a fabulous long story about war, love, and one woman, Jean Paget, who has the smarts, guts and generosity to save and improve the lives of everyone who comes within her sphere in every situation in which she finds herself . I grew to admire and adore not only Jean but also the 2 other main characters in this story as it moved from WWII Malaya to London and then to the Australian outback.
As the story grew to a close tears welled up in my eyes for I knew that my time with these lovely people was coming to an end. I wanted to stop listening so that the story wouldn't end but I couldn't stop because I wanted to hear how it ended. I will not forget Jean Paget nor her story for a very long time.
This is such a beautiful story well told.
Highly recommended.
September 16, 2015
This novel had been lying about my house in India for a long time: an old copy somebody abandoned (I couldn't even recognise the name written on the cover). Old houses gather books like they do other things (moth-eaten clothes, faded photographs and chipped chinaware). This vacation, it kept on intruding itself into my consciousness so I said What the hell! and finally decided to read it.
The book pulled me into it at the beginning. I liked the roundabout way Shute approached the story of Jean Paget through her uncle's will and his solicitor, Noel Strachan (who is also the story's narrator) - the legalese and leisurely pace of the story was so very British. Then, we are suddenly plunged into war-torn Malaya and the personal heroism of Jean and her Australian admirer, Joe Harman: extremely gripping stuff.
Bud sadly, for me, after that the novel began to flag - it became a sort of travelogue about the Australian outback mixed up with and instruction booklet on "How to Set Up Business in Rural Australia". I became so bored that I only skimmed the last third.
Still I give it two stars for the gripping first half and the sympathetic portrayal of Malays and even the Japanese - without a hint of racism: a relative rarity for a book first published in 1950.
The book pulled me into it at the beginning. I liked the roundabout way Shute approached the story of Jean Paget through her uncle's will and his solicitor, Noel Strachan (who is also the story's narrator) - the legalese and leisurely pace of the story was so very British. Then, we are suddenly plunged into war-torn Malaya and the personal heroism of Jean and her Australian admirer, Joe Harman: extremely gripping stuff.
Bud sadly, for me, after that the novel began to flag - it became a sort of travelogue about the Australian outback mixed up with and instruction booklet on "How to Set Up Business in Rural Australia". I became so bored that I only skimmed the last third.
Still I give it two stars for the gripping first half and the sympathetic portrayal of Malays and even the Japanese - without a hint of racism: a relative rarity for a book first published in 1950.
May 10, 2017
Nevil Shute's sweeping novel sees privileged Englishwoman, Jean Paget, upended from her expat life in colonial Malaya by the invading Japanese, in WWII.
Paget somehow survives the brutality of an enforced death march through a jungle peninsula and eschews the home comforts of post-war England for altruistic work in far-flung climes (Malaya and the Australian outback).
This is a compelling read, despite it seeming a bit dated now, and Shute can be commended for creating a modern, ballsy female character in a time of authorial chauvinism.
June 2, 2019
Jean Paget was part of a group of women and children captured by the Japanese at the beginning of the invasion of Malaya. The men were sent to camps while their captors didn’t know what to do with the women and children. And so began the horrific march across Malaya, from one place to the next over miles and miles of dense jungle. During the walk, several of their party died, but Jean’s role as leader went well as she was the only person able to speak the local language. When the diminished group came across Australian prisoners of war, Joe Harman from northern Australia did his best to help the group. He was caught and brutally punished…
After the war and repatriated to England, Jean’s lifestyle was a sedentary one. But after considerable time she learned something contrary to her beliefs and so headed for Australia in search of Joe; she needed to know if he was alright. Would she find him? Joe had spoken fondly of Alice Springs – could she find him in a town like Alice?
A Town Like Alice by Aussie author Nevil Shute is an exceptional tale. Based on the true story of Dutch women and children captured by the Japanese in Sumatra, Shute met the strong, courageous woman who led the group through the jungle, and wanted to honour her with this story. Hence Jean Paget was born. Originally published in 1950, A Town Like Alice is a classic I highly recommend.
After the war and repatriated to England, Jean’s lifestyle was a sedentary one. But after considerable time she learned something contrary to her beliefs and so headed for Australia in search of Joe; she needed to know if he was alright. Would she find him? Joe had spoken fondly of Alice Springs – could she find him in a town like Alice?
A Town Like Alice by Aussie author Nevil Shute is an exceptional tale. Based on the true story of Dutch women and children captured by the Japanese in Sumatra, Shute met the strong, courageous woman who led the group through the jungle, and wanted to honour her with this story. Hence Jean Paget was born. Originally published in 1950, A Town Like Alice is a classic I highly recommend.
November 26, 2016
‘Oh my word.'
What a confused book. A Town Like Alice has been such an intriguing read. The writing had an easy flow to it and the story was certainly gripping, even though this decidedly is a book of two halves.
The first half deals with the history of Jean Paget, in which we follow her to Malaya under the Japanese occupation. The second half takes us on Jean's journey to Australia, where she hopes to find out more about the man she whose death she believes she caused.
There is much to like about both parts of the story. Both parts present historical information (even tho fictionalised) to 20th century events. Both parts show how events shape a character and how a character can create change in turn. I loved how the story is tied back to the narration by a single elderly solicitor who both looks after the interests of his trustee but who also acknowledges the generational gaps between them.
However, it is with this assumption of a guardianship that the book also shows its age and its outdated attitudes. And with respect to the generational differences, this may even be the point of the book (one of them), to show how attitudes towards women have changed, if only slightly (?) - Jean's uncle didn't believe an unmarried woman under 40 had sense enough to deal with money, her solicitor didn't share this attitude but still presided over the trust fund in a patronising manner, Jean herself didn't trust her ability (even tho she had already proven to be a very strong character) and it took encouragement for her to set up her own enterprise(s).
This is a part of the book that confused me, too. Jean is portrayed as such an indecisive character at times, yet, her actions leave no doubt about her ability to make choices.
Of course, the portrayal of aboriginal people and other people of non-white extraction is a reflection of the racism of the time that the book was written, and one of the reasons i didn't like this book better. But there was something else that irked me: in the first part of the story, part of the message seemed to have been that the main character learned about how silly attitudes of cultural superiority are. In the second part of the book, this is somewhat forgotten or set aside. This may have been because the story was not told from Jean's perspective entirely, but still it felt like an odd break in the story.
And don't get me started on the love story part of the book. Some of the most ludicrous and chauvinist parts of the book are sold as "romance" - having a character covered in bruises after a "romantic" encounter, letting the character say it was her fault, and following this up with an engagement ..... it just did not gel. I'm seriously confused by Shute. Or maybe he was?
Anyway, The first half of the book is great, the second less so, which is mostly because the first half is a story in its own right and the second half takes away from it. Again, I'm seriously confused why Shute did this. Did he attempt an epic saga and fail?
I have no answer to this. What I have done, tho, is that I culled many a Shute title from my tbr.
What a confused book. A Town Like Alice has been such an intriguing read. The writing had an easy flow to it and the story was certainly gripping, even though this decidedly is a book of two halves.
The first half deals with the history of Jean Paget, in which we follow her to Malaya under the Japanese occupation. The second half takes us on Jean's journey to Australia, where she hopes to find out more about the man she whose death she believes she caused.
There is much to like about both parts of the story. Both parts present historical information (even tho fictionalised) to 20th century events. Both parts show how events shape a character and how a character can create change in turn. I loved how the story is tied back to the narration by a single elderly solicitor who both looks after the interests of his trustee but who also acknowledges the generational gaps between them.
However, it is with this assumption of a guardianship that the book also shows its age and its outdated attitudes. And with respect to the generational differences, this may even be the point of the book (one of them), to show how attitudes towards women have changed, if only slightly (?) - Jean's uncle didn't believe an unmarried woman under 40 had sense enough to deal with money, her solicitor didn't share this attitude but still presided over the trust fund in a patronising manner, Jean herself didn't trust her ability (even tho she had already proven to be a very strong character) and it took encouragement for her to set up her own enterprise(s).
This is a part of the book that confused me, too. Jean is portrayed as such an indecisive character at times, yet, her actions leave no doubt about her ability to make choices.
Of course, the portrayal of aboriginal people and other people of non-white extraction is a reflection of the racism of the time that the book was written, and one of the reasons i didn't like this book better. But there was something else that irked me: in the first part of the story, part of the message seemed to have been that the main character learned about how silly attitudes of cultural superiority are. In the second part of the book, this is somewhat forgotten or set aside. This may have been because the story was not told from Jean's perspective entirely, but still it felt like an odd break in the story.
And don't get me started on the love story part of the book. Some of the most ludicrous and chauvinist parts of the book are sold as "romance" - having a character covered in bruises after a "romantic" encounter, letting the character say it was her fault, and following this up with an engagement ..... it just did not gel. I'm seriously confused by Shute. Or maybe he was?
Anyway, The first half of the book is great, the second less so, which is mostly because the first half is a story in its own right and the second half takes away from it. Again, I'm seriously confused why Shute did this. Did he attempt an epic saga and fail?
I have no answer to this. What I have done, tho, is that I culled many a Shute title from my tbr.
February 5, 2009
A Town Like Alice reminds me so much of my favorite book, Mrs. Mike. Both catalog the difficulties and triumphs of living in remote areas. Both are historical. Both have a strong and engaging female protagonist who are in love with a man responsibly tied to a piece of land. Neither are fluffy Harlequins but make that pit in the bottom of your stomach churn with romance.
In short, I loved it. A Town Like Alice follows Jean Paget, a Scottish woman who was raised by her parents in Malay (now known as Malaysia), returns to work there as an adult and ultimately finds herself trapped there as a Prisoner of War when the Japanese invade the Island during World War II.
Her captivity is accurately described as horrible, with starvation and long marches from town to town killing many women and children. But, it also shows that unique ability of women to nurture, even in the most degrading situations. When she meets Joe Harman, an Australian ringger (cowboy) and fellow POW, he tells Jean about his home and work near Alice Springs, a bonza town in the heart of the Outback. The two extremely lonely and isolated characters become friends. Eventually, when Joe steals five chickens to feed the sick and hungry women and children, Jean is interrogated and punished until Joe confesses and is later crucified by a cruel Japanese leader.
The story's narration is directed by an elderly British attorney, Noel Strachan, who is put in charge of a trust Jean's uncle leaves her. Even with the narration in his control, most of the story is told through Jean sharing her memories to Noel. Eventually, I found Noel's involvement and third party perspective very satisfying, mostly because it allowed the author to cover a greater amount of time without seeming overly jumpy.
The book was written in 1950 and feels like it at times. The attitudes of segregation and thoughtless caricatures of minorities creates feelings of discomfort and embarrassment.However, it's not done with malice, and the story isn't about racial barriers at all, so I didn't find it offensive. If anything, it allows a glimpse into an unapologetic view that most white people probably had at the time - which is actually an interesting glimpse on its own.
I appreciated this book - for its less frequently told story of female prisoners of war and for its celebration of the human spirit.
In short, I loved it. A Town Like Alice follows Jean Paget, a Scottish woman who was raised by her parents in Malay (now known as Malaysia), returns to work there as an adult and ultimately finds herself trapped there as a Prisoner of War when the Japanese invade the Island during World War II.
Her captivity is accurately described as horrible, with starvation and long marches from town to town killing many women and children. But, it also shows that unique ability of women to nurture, even in the most degrading situations. When she meets Joe Harman, an Australian ringger (cowboy) and fellow POW, he tells Jean about his home and work near Alice Springs, a bonza town in the heart of the Outback. The two extremely lonely and isolated characters become friends. Eventually, when Joe steals five chickens to feed the sick and hungry women and children, Jean is interrogated and punished until Joe confesses and is later crucified by a cruel Japanese leader.
The story's narration is directed by an elderly British attorney, Noel Strachan, who is put in charge of a trust Jean's uncle leaves her. Even with the narration in his control, most of the story is told through Jean sharing her memories to Noel. Eventually, I found Noel's involvement and third party perspective very satisfying, mostly because it allowed the author to cover a greater amount of time without seeming overly jumpy.
The book was written in 1950 and feels like it at times. The attitudes of segregation and thoughtless caricatures of minorities creates feelings of discomfort and embarrassment.However, it's not done with malice, and the story isn't about racial barriers at all, so I didn't find it offensive. If anything, it allows a glimpse into an unapologetic view that most white people probably had at the time - which is actually an interesting glimpse on its own.
I appreciated this book - for its less frequently told story of female prisoners of war and for its celebration of the human spirit.
September 20, 2022
Oh my, I am so glad I finally got ahold of this. I've been searching for it for years. I t’s a winner.
Any review will tell you that the story is made up of two parts. The first focuses upon events during the Second World War in the Far East--a group of English women and children, 30-some at the start, are stranded in Malaysia The year is 1942 and Japan has recently invaded. The second part, set in 1948, is a direct consequence of the events that played out in the first part. One of the women, Jean Paget, has after the war inherited a large sum of money. It is left to her in a trust fund. She is determined to in some way thank and help those responsible for the women’s survival. As she learns more, her mission expands. Having originally planned to return only to Malaysia, she realizes her trip cannot stop there. She travels on to Australia!
The story’s narrator is the elderly solicitor in charge of the trust fund. He becomes an important element of the story and a character you’re going to like! No more clues will I give here.
Jean’s a great character too. She is a heroine you will be glad to have met. She has a head on her shoulders. She is strong, clear thinking and not intimidated by difficult circumstances. Every step along the way she’s one step ahead, making plans for the future. She has dreams and she works to realize these dreams.
The title of the tale is significant, and not to be ignored. The third of its four words is ever so important. This is my sole clue.
Nevil Shute fills the tale with factual details that are fascinating. We learn both about Malaysia and Australia. The conditions during the war are shocking. Informative, straightforward presentation of disturbing facts are mixed with, or let’s say tempered by, admirable individuals. These individuals help the reader get through the difficult sections. Australian slang, rather than being confusing, is made amusing. How? Through incidents told. We are told of wallabies and coral islands. Both the slang term used for the young cattle not yet branded and the shenanigans the ranchers get up to with them make readers smile. You learn about ways and traditions, while at the same time you laugh. Here is what I am saying--the balance of the horrible and the good is well done.
Robin Bailey gives a fantastic audiobook narration. He fluidly switches between different accents and dialects. He perfectly intones both the Australian and British characters. Australian slang and diction are comprehensible. We listen as those of the Australian outback transmit messages on wireless radio broadcasts—the rendition is simply marvelous. Every aspect of the narration is topnotch. Bailey’s performance is amazing, so I am giving the narration five stars.
Here is another winner by Nevil Shute. I am very happy to have listened to it narrated by Robin Bailey! I DO love books! I love immersing myself in other worlds….and learning a bit along the way.
*****************
*A Town Like Alice 4 stars
*The Chequer Board 4 stars
*No Highway 4 stars
*The Far Country 4 stars
*Landfall 4 stars
*Most Secret 4 stars
*Beyond The Black Stump 4 stars
*Pied Piper 3 stars
*Ruined City 3 stars
*Trustee from the Toolroom 3 stars
*The Rainbow and the Rose 3 stars
*Requiem for a Wren 2 stars
*So Distained 2 stars
*Pastoral 1 star
*Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer TBR
*An Old Captivity TBR
*Marazan TBR
*What Happened to the Corbetts TBR
*On the Beach maybe
Any review will tell you that the story is made up of two parts. The first focuses upon events during the Second World War in the Far East--a group of English women and children, 30-some at the start, are stranded in Malaysia The year is 1942 and Japan has recently invaded. The second part, set in 1948, is a direct consequence of the events that played out in the first part. One of the women, Jean Paget, has after the war inherited a large sum of money. It is left to her in a trust fund. She is determined to in some way thank and help those responsible for the women’s survival. As she learns more, her mission expands. Having originally planned to return only to Malaysia, she realizes her trip cannot stop there. She travels on to Australia!
The story’s narrator is the elderly solicitor in charge of the trust fund. He becomes an important element of the story and a character you’re going to like! No more clues will I give here.
Jean’s a great character too. She is a heroine you will be glad to have met. She has a head on her shoulders. She is strong, clear thinking and not intimidated by difficult circumstances. Every step along the way she’s one step ahead, making plans for the future. She has dreams and she works to realize these dreams.
The title of the tale is significant, and not to be ignored. The third of its four words is ever so important. This is my sole clue.
Nevil Shute fills the tale with factual details that are fascinating. We learn both about Malaysia and Australia. The conditions during the war are shocking. Informative, straightforward presentation of disturbing facts are mixed with, or let’s say tempered by, admirable individuals. These individuals help the reader get through the difficult sections. Australian slang, rather than being confusing, is made amusing. How? Through incidents told. We are told of wallabies and coral islands. Both the slang term used for the young cattle not yet branded and the shenanigans the ranchers get up to with them make readers smile. You learn about ways and traditions, while at the same time you laugh. Here is what I am saying--the balance of the horrible and the good is well done.
Robin Bailey gives a fantastic audiobook narration. He fluidly switches between different accents and dialects. He perfectly intones both the Australian and British characters. Australian slang and diction are comprehensible. We listen as those of the Australian outback transmit messages on wireless radio broadcasts—the rendition is simply marvelous. Every aspect of the narration is topnotch. Bailey’s performance is amazing, so I am giving the narration five stars.
Here is another winner by Nevil Shute. I am very happy to have listened to it narrated by Robin Bailey! I DO love books! I love immersing myself in other worlds….and learning a bit along the way.
*****************
*A Town Like Alice 4 stars
*The Chequer Board 4 stars
*No Highway 4 stars
*The Far Country 4 stars
*Landfall 4 stars
*Most Secret 4 stars
*Beyond The Black Stump 4 stars
*Pied Piper 3 stars
*Ruined City 3 stars
*Trustee from the Toolroom 3 stars
*The Rainbow and the Rose 3 stars
*Requiem for a Wren 2 stars
*So Distained 2 stars
*Pastoral 1 star
*Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer TBR
*An Old Captivity TBR
*Marazan TBR
*What Happened to the Corbetts TBR
*On the Beach maybe
November 1, 2022
Some books I feel I have to give 5★, even if the book has some considerable flaws. For me, Auē was one such book.
A Town Like Alice is another
The story begins gently with an aging London solicitor, Noel Strachan, recounting how he came to meet elderly and wealthy Scotsman, James McFadden, and helped him draw up his will. When McFadden dies, Strachan tracks down his sole surviving relative, Jean Paget. It is fair to say the Noel is charmed by this young lady who says she feels about seventy and will never marry.
So how does this story end up in Northern Australia? I can't really tell any more without giving away too much of the plot. I can tell you that the middle part of this novel does have considerable impact (in fact some pages were the most powerful I have ever read) & was nearly impossible to put down. I found parts of it very romantic, parts of Jean's experiences are very distressing. And you have to grit your teeth and swallow a lot when reading about the attitudes of the time, both to women and to anyone who wasn't white. The use of what would now (if it wasn't then) be considered racial slurs is very hard to read - I don't think I have ever seen so many in one book. By the end end it was detracting from my enjoyment of the book, but whether or not Shute shared these attitudes they were authentic for the time and I still admired the hero and heroine of this book very much.
I managed to acquire easily most of Shute's titles over the years. This one took me longer. I have a feeling this book is a keeper for most people and that is why it rarely turns up in secondhand bookshops.
Further reading; Nevil Shute met Carry Geysel after the war. Due to a misunderstanding he thought her life during WW2 had been even harder than it was. https://www.nevilshute.org/Misc/Carry...
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
A Town Like Alice is another
The story begins gently with an aging London solicitor, Noel Strachan, recounting how he came to meet elderly and wealthy Scotsman, James McFadden, and helped him draw up his will. When McFadden dies, Strachan tracks down his sole surviving relative, Jean Paget. It is fair to say the Noel is charmed by this young lady who says she feels about seventy and will never marry.
So how does this story end up in Northern Australia? I can't really tell any more without giving away too much of the plot. I can tell you that the middle part of this novel does have considerable impact (in fact some pages were the most powerful I have ever read) & was nearly impossible to put down. I found parts of it very romantic, parts of Jean's experiences are very distressing. And you have to grit your teeth and swallow a lot when reading about the attitudes of the time, both to women and to anyone who wasn't white. The use of what would now (if it wasn't then) be considered racial slurs is very hard to read - I don't think I have ever seen so many in one book. By the end end it was detracting from my enjoyment of the book, but whether or not Shute shared these attitudes they were authentic for the time and I still admired the hero and heroine of this book very much.
I managed to acquire easily most of Shute's titles over the years. This one took me longer. I have a feeling this book is a keeper for most people and that is why it rarely turns up in secondhand bookshops.
Further reading; Nevil Shute met Carry Geysel after the war. Due to a misunderstanding he thought her life during WW2 had been even harder than it was. https://www.nevilshute.org/Misc/Carry...
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
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March 4, 2018The author Nevil Shute left Britain and migrated to Australia because he believed that the advent of the Welfare State would cause people to go soft. Australia in his imagination was a decently virile and macho kind of place, and perhaps it is. In the way that popular fiction often is, this is a heavily ideological novel. So the ideal reader of this book:
believes that white skinned people are naturally superior to all others,
and that segregation is a a sensible response to humans having different skin tones,
and that if a white man marries a non-white woman (or meta-white) we should feel sympathy and sorrow for his desperate state,
and that a white woman may marry a non-white man if she is catholic,
and that there is a a self evident and natural division of labour between man the mechanic, and woman the home maker,
and that women ought not to be trusted to manage money on account of their giddiness until they are deep into their 30s, unless married and with children, however even in such circumstances the supervision of a suitably serious man is still advisable,
inevitably homosexuals can't operate heavy machinery (assuming any such persons exist outside of medical speculation - which is obviously highly unlikely especially in Australia),
and that nature exists to provide us with fancy leather footwear or briefcases,
and finally it is inevitable that organised labour causes decent people to throw their hands up in the air with despair and close down their businesses.
Aside from this, unlike in An Old Captivity, Shute does remember at the end of his yarn that he is using a framing story to convey the narrative to the reader. Culturally this is an interesting novel in being I guess an early example of the Australia fascination that led to TV programmes like The Flying Doctors and the young flying Doctors, the Sulivans and Skippy the flying kangaroo sludging up daytime TV schedules in the UK in the 70s and 80s to the detriment of Crown Court and Mr Benn ,there is a nice early positive reference to Australian wine as well, at the same time we see that Australia will look not to the UK but to the USA as its role model- again a prescient insight. Curiously the early part of the plot works counter to the racial assumptions of the latter part, in that it is through abandoning their assumption of superiority, bargaining with a Malay head- ( relying on citing the holy Qu'ran to make their point too)-man offering to help with the rice cultivation in exchange for hospitality that a party of English women & children manage to survive WWII after the ignominious surrender in the face of inferior numbers of the British in Singapore to Japan- this according to the author's note was a truish story except it happened in Sumatra not Malaya and the women & children were Dutch not English - maybe a significant difference for the lead character it is entirely natural to express her gratitude by going back to pay for a well and wash area to be constructed in the village after the war which is why the disjoint is so striking when later Miss Paget - our hero, well main character really - has no common feeling with the Australian aboriginals, their role as an inferior servant caste is accepted by her without comment. Amusingly the leading lady gets to know her leading Australian man at during the war and he fancies her then on account of her native dress - sarong and blouse, later seeing her dressed all in English style he can't touch her at which point she adopts the strategy from She stoops to conquer and having put on a sarong is soon left bruised by his uncontrollable ardour - mileage here for an essay on dress as status code and the overlap between attitudes towards race and sexual availability. Really a book of its time - however in another reading it is an early pro-globalisation text (the alligator shoe business is set up in Australia to undercut the high costs of production in Britain) and pro internal (white) migration as a means of economic development, mildly amusing with its conception of pillar industries that underpin/hold up a superstructure of an economic ecosystem (largely through the promotion of decent all white sexual relations pursued within marriage). Enabling a town like Alice Springs to develop in the deepest outback. This is also of its time in being a technological novel - technology leaps all barriers and provides the solutions to the novels 'problems' in the forms of a/c units, DDT, aeroplanes, radios, & bulldozers. There is no questioning of he appropriateness of the technology the wisdom of its application is accepted as self-evident - all of which common sense applications of technological solutions to non-existent problems have led us to our current environmental situation.
This book I rescued and will now deposit in the paper recycling box for resurrection into some useful paper product.
believes that white skinned people are naturally superior to all others,
and that segregation is a a sensible response to humans having different skin tones,
and that if a white man marries a non-white woman (or meta-white) we should feel sympathy and sorrow for his desperate state,
and that a white woman may marry a non-white man if she is catholic,
and that there is a a self evident and natural division of labour between man the mechanic, and woman the home maker,
and that women ought not to be trusted to manage money on account of their giddiness until they are deep into their 30s, unless married and with children, however even in such circumstances the supervision of a suitably serious man is still advisable,
inevitably homosexuals can't operate heavy machinery (assuming any such persons exist outside of medical speculation - which is obviously highly unlikely especially in Australia),
and that nature exists to provide us with fancy leather footwear or briefcases,
and finally it is inevitable that organised labour causes decent people to throw their hands up in the air with despair and close down their businesses.
Aside from this, unlike in An Old Captivity, Shute does remember at the end of his yarn that he is using a framing story to convey the narrative to the reader. Culturally this is an interesting novel in being I guess an early example of the Australia fascination that led to TV programmes like The Flying Doctors and the young flying Doctors, the Sulivans and Skippy the flying kangaroo sludging up daytime TV schedules in the UK in the 70s and 80s to the detriment of Crown Court and Mr Benn ,there is a nice early positive reference to Australian wine as well, at the same time we see that Australia will look not to the UK but to the USA as its role model- again a prescient insight. Curiously the early part of the plot works counter to the racial assumptions of the latter part, in that it is through abandoning their assumption of superiority, bargaining with a Malay head- ( relying on citing the holy Qu'ran to make their point too)-man offering to help with the rice cultivation in exchange for hospitality that a party of English women & children manage to survive WWII after the ignominious surrender in the face of inferior numbers of the British in Singapore to Japan- this according to the author's note was a truish story except it happened in Sumatra not Malaya and the women & children were Dutch not English - maybe a significant difference for the lead character it is entirely natural to express her gratitude by going back to pay for a well and wash area to be constructed in the village after the war which is why the disjoint is so striking when later Miss Paget - our hero, well main character really - has no common feeling with the Australian aboriginals, their role as an inferior servant caste is accepted by her without comment. Amusingly the leading lady gets to know her leading Australian man at during the war and he fancies her then on account of her native dress - sarong and blouse, later seeing her dressed all in English style he can't touch her at which point she adopts the strategy from She stoops to conquer and having put on a sarong is soon left bruised by his uncontrollable ardour - mileage here for an essay on dress as status code and the overlap between attitudes towards race and sexual availability. Really a book of its time - however in another reading it is an early pro-globalisation text (the alligator shoe business is set up in Australia to undercut the high costs of production in Britain) and pro internal (white) migration as a means of economic development, mildly amusing with its conception of pillar industries that underpin/hold up a superstructure of an economic ecosystem (largely through the promotion of decent all white sexual relations pursued within marriage). Enabling a town like Alice Springs to develop in the deepest outback. This is also of its time in being a technological novel - technology leaps all barriers and provides the solutions to the novels 'problems' in the forms of a/c units, DDT, aeroplanes, radios, & bulldozers. There is no questioning of he appropriateness of the technology the wisdom of its application is accepted as self-evident - all of which common sense applications of technological solutions to non-existent problems have led us to our current environmental situation.
This book I rescued and will now deposit in the paper recycling box for resurrection into some useful paper product.
January 13, 2021
Written in 1950, Nevil Shute's classic novel acquaints the reader with Jean Paget, a young English women living in Malaya during the Japanese occupation. Taken as P.O.W.s, she and a group of English women and children are forced on a seven month death march through the jungle. Due to her resourcefulness she becomes the spokesperson, negotiating for food, medicine, and other basic needs. After enduring this horrific experience, she returns to London and learns she is the benefactor of a substantial inheritance. Remembering an Australian P.O.W. who befriended her group in Malaya, she travels in Alice Springs, a desolate outpost in the outback. Here she again demonstrates her vision, ingenuity and entrepreneurial skills helping this lonely place become a desired and thriving location.
Based partly on a true story, Shute has written an account of an amazing woman, one who knew how to overcome adversity and survive. His writing is not lyrical; I didn't reread sentences for the beauty of the words. It is a story of hope and perseverance, of courage and love. Some abbreviated editions and also the original movie turned this beautiful book into a sappy love story; it is so much more.
Based partly on a true story, Shute has written an account of an amazing woman, one who knew how to overcome adversity and survive. His writing is not lyrical; I didn't reread sentences for the beauty of the words. It is a story of hope and perseverance, of courage and love. Some abbreviated editions and also the original movie turned this beautiful book into a sappy love story; it is so much more.
June 1, 2019
The Legacy = A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
A Town Like Alice is a romance novel by Nevil Shute, published in 1950 when Shute had newly settled in Australia. Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman, becomes romantically interested in a fellow prisoner of World War II in Malaya, and after liberation emigrates to Australia to be with him, where she attempts, by investing her substantial financial inheritance, to generate economic prosperity in a small outback community—to turn it into "a town like Alice" i.e. Alice Springs. The story falls broadly into three parts. First part in post-World War II London, Jean Paget, a secretary in a leather goods factory, is informed by solicitor Noel Strachan that she has inherited a considerable sum of money from an uncle she never knew. ... The second part of the story flashes back to Jean's experiences during the war, when she was working in Malaya at the time the Japanese invaded and was taken prisoner together with a group of women and children. ... The third part of the book shows how Jean's entrepreneurship gives a decisive economic impact to develop Willstown into "a town like Alice"; also Jean's help in rescuing an injured stockman, which breaks down many local barriers. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه ژوئن سال 2001 میلادی
عنوان: شهری چون آلیس؛ نویسنده: نویل شوت؛ مترجم: علی کهربایی؛ تهران، نشر دشتستان؛ 1378، در 441 ص؛ شابک: 9649174826؛ چاپ دیگر با عنوان: راهی نیست؛ تهران، دشتستان؛ 1380؛ در 408 ص؛ شابک: 9647548036؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان استرالیائی - سده 20 م
داستان، شرح ماجراهای بانویی انگلیسی به نام «جین» است، که در جنگ جهانی دوم به دست نیروهای ژاپنی اسیر میشود، و با بسیاری دیگر از اسرا وضعیتی دشوار را سپری میکند. فضای مرگ آور اردوگاه، تاثیری سوء بر اسیران میگذارد، اما «جین» با روحیه ای وصف ناپذیر امید به روزگار بهتر را همچنان حفظ میکند و سرانجام ...؛ ا. شربیانی
A Town Like Alice is a romance novel by Nevil Shute, published in 1950 when Shute had newly settled in Australia. Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman, becomes romantically interested in a fellow prisoner of World War II in Malaya, and after liberation emigrates to Australia to be with him, where she attempts, by investing her substantial financial inheritance, to generate economic prosperity in a small outback community—to turn it into "a town like Alice" i.e. Alice Springs. The story falls broadly into three parts. First part in post-World War II London, Jean Paget, a secretary in a leather goods factory, is informed by solicitor Noel Strachan that she has inherited a considerable sum of money from an uncle she never knew. ... The second part of the story flashes back to Jean's experiences during the war, when she was working in Malaya at the time the Japanese invaded and was taken prisoner together with a group of women and children. ... The third part of the book shows how Jean's entrepreneurship gives a decisive economic impact to develop Willstown into "a town like Alice"; also Jean's help in rescuing an injured stockman, which breaks down many local barriers. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه ژوئن سال 2001 میلادی
عنوان: شهری چون آلیس؛ نویسنده: نویل شوت؛ مترجم: علی کهربایی؛ تهران، نشر دشتستان؛ 1378، در 441 ص؛ شابک: 9649174826؛ چاپ دیگر با عنوان: راهی نیست؛ تهران، دشتستان؛ 1380؛ در 408 ص؛ شابک: 9647548036؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان استرالیائی - سده 20 م
داستان، شرح ماجراهای بانویی انگلیسی به نام «جین» است، که در جنگ جهانی دوم به دست نیروهای ژاپنی اسیر میشود، و با بسیاری دیگر از اسرا وضعیتی دشوار را سپری میکند. فضای مرگ آور اردوگاه، تاثیری سوء بر اسیران میگذارد، اما «جین» با روحیه ای وصف ناپذیر امید به روزگار بهتر را همچنان حفظ میکند و سرانجام ...؛ ا. شربیانی
January 23, 2014
***********Spoiler Alert**********
When we first meet Jean Paget , she appears as a quiet, unassuming young woman , who has suddenly inherited a large sum of money.
Jean's story gradually unfolds as she tells of the terrible ordeal she suffered through on a death march in Malaya , at the hands of the Japanese during WW II . It is then that we discover that she has guts, heart and smarts .
As the story proceeds , we learn just how courageous and savvy , she really is . After going back to Malaya to give back to the people of the small village that saved her and a band of other women and children , she goes on to the rough, outback of Australia to the man who helped her on the march and suffered a horrible punishment for it .
During the last part of the book , I just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen to Jean or Joe . I'm so glad I was wrong .
Shute tells us that the death march actually occurred , but in Sumatra , rather than Malaya .
This is a wonderful story of courage , perseverance and love . I'm not sure how I got this far without having read a Nevil Shute novel, but I'm glad there are more to read .
When we first meet Jean Paget , she appears as a quiet, unassuming young woman , who has suddenly inherited a large sum of money.
Jean's story gradually unfolds as she tells of the terrible ordeal she suffered through on a death march in Malaya , at the hands of the Japanese during WW II . It is then that we discover that she has guts, heart and smarts .
As the story proceeds , we learn just how courageous and savvy , she really is . After going back to Malaya to give back to the people of the small village that saved her and a band of other women and children , she goes on to the rough, outback of Australia to the man who helped her on the march and suffered a horrible punishment for it .
During the last part of the book , I just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen to Jean or Joe . I'm so glad I was wrong .
Shute tells us that the death march actually occurred , but in Sumatra , rather than Malaya .
This is a wonderful story of courage , perseverance and love . I'm not sure how I got this far without having read a Nevil Shute novel, but I'm glad there are more to read .
August 19, 2022
This is an excellent book about what perseverance and vision can accomplish but most of all it's two love stories - the one between the two main characters of the story and the one in the mere telling of the story.
June 5, 2017
One of the best "make lemonade out of lemons" books I've read. Warm, witty, real.
Told by Noel Strachan, an aging solicitor who is the trustee of Jean's estate, this story unfolds quietly.
Jean is a strong, delightful woman; just the sort needed in the development of a section of Queensland, Australia that was left as a ghost town after the gold rush ended.
Although a story of love and connectivity, this isn't a sappy love story. It's a solidly told story of a determined man & woman who want to forge a life together and how they did it.
I'd love a wallaby as a semi-pet, too. The descriptions of homestead life in Queensland is lonely but also very lovely.
Told by Noel Strachan, an aging solicitor who is the trustee of Jean's estate, this story unfolds quietly.
Jean is a strong, delightful woman; just the sort needed in the development of a section of Queensland, Australia that was left as a ghost town after the gold rush ended.
Although a story of love and connectivity, this isn't a sappy love story. It's a solidly told story of a determined man & woman who want to forge a life together and how they did it.
I'd love a wallaby as a semi-pet, too. The descriptions of homestead life in Queensland is lonely but also very lovely.
February 11, 2018
This month's bookclub pick, A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute, starts in England with an aging attorney setting up a trust. Most of the story follows Jean Paget, who spent most of World War II in Malaya as a prisoner of the Japanese. The journey after the war is the best part. It's a slow journey to get there, but paid off. Warning - there are some racist comments in here that seem a bit harsh even in 1950.
January 2, 2023
Some bonzer story-telling!
A TOWN LIKE ALICE, one of the most moving novels that I've ever had the privilege of reading, actually takes place in three connected segments.
As the story opens, Noel Strachan, an elderly London lawyer from Chancery Lane, engaged as executor for the will of a recently deceased bachelor client, finds himself in the position of becoming the trustee for the sole beneficiary who, under the terms of a carefully crafted will, cannot inherit the capital of a sizable estate until she turns 35. Strachan comes to know his new and now quite wealthy client, Jean Paget, an ostensibly typical 20-something young lady working as a typist for a leather goods manufacturer, as she tells the story of her experience in Malaya during the closing days of WW II six years earlier. Although he won't admit it to himself and outright denies it to his colleagues, Strachan falls in love with Paget despite their enormous difference in age as she tells the story of her shocking past.
In the second part of Shute's story, Paget picks up the narrative thread telling Strachan the horrific, heart-rending story of how she and a large group of married women were forced to walk across hundreds of miles of hot, malaria-infested Malayan territory by their Japanese captors enduring dysentery, cholera, hunger and, of course, simple exhaustion. During this gruesome death march, the ladies meet Joe Harman, a kindly Australian stockman, also captured by the Japanese who is driving a supply truck for the Japanese wartime railway construction program. When he steals some chickens from a Japanese officer to give to the ladies for food, he is captured, tortured, crucified and left to die hanging from his nailed hands on a tree trunk.
It is several years later that Paget, thinking Harman had succumbed to his torture in Malaya, and Harman, thinking that Paget, like all of her companions, was a married woman with a baby, discover that they were both wrong. The final segment of Shute's extraordinary tale of warmth, love and self-fulfilment closes as any reader would hope with them finding one another and establishing a new life and, indeed, a new community in post-war Australia, not too far from Alice Springs.
While A TOWN LIKE ALICE is unquestionably a put-a-smile-on-your-face, make-you-say-aaaah romantic tale, it is certainly not chick lit by any means. It's an imaginative, moving tale which touches on the themes of wartime atrocity, courage in the face of adversity and the difficulties and opportunities involved with the construction of a pioneering community. The simple fact of the prejudiced treatment of the aboriginal people of Australian at that time is included in a sad, ironic, rather matter of fact way without comment or criticism. Although Jean Paget, as an enlightened forward thinker, is shown as wishing that it might be otherwise, she acts as she is expected to according to the norms of the day.
Drama, suspense, romance and superb story-telling! Would I recommend it to a potential reader? Oh my word, yes! Too right! I'm not sure exactly where I'd rank it but I am quite certain I'd add it to my list of best lifetime novels. Yes, it's THAT good.
Paul Weiss
A TOWN LIKE ALICE, one of the most moving novels that I've ever had the privilege of reading, actually takes place in three connected segments.
As the story opens, Noel Strachan, an elderly London lawyer from Chancery Lane, engaged as executor for the will of a recently deceased bachelor client, finds himself in the position of becoming the trustee for the sole beneficiary who, under the terms of a carefully crafted will, cannot inherit the capital of a sizable estate until she turns 35. Strachan comes to know his new and now quite wealthy client, Jean Paget, an ostensibly typical 20-something young lady working as a typist for a leather goods manufacturer, as she tells the story of her experience in Malaya during the closing days of WW II six years earlier. Although he won't admit it to himself and outright denies it to his colleagues, Strachan falls in love with Paget despite their enormous difference in age as she tells the story of her shocking past.
In the second part of Shute's story, Paget picks up the narrative thread telling Strachan the horrific, heart-rending story of how she and a large group of married women were forced to walk across hundreds of miles of hot, malaria-infested Malayan territory by their Japanese captors enduring dysentery, cholera, hunger and, of course, simple exhaustion. During this gruesome death march, the ladies meet Joe Harman, a kindly Australian stockman, also captured by the Japanese who is driving a supply truck for the Japanese wartime railway construction program. When he steals some chickens from a Japanese officer to give to the ladies for food, he is captured, tortured, crucified and left to die hanging from his nailed hands on a tree trunk.
It is several years later that Paget, thinking Harman had succumbed to his torture in Malaya, and Harman, thinking that Paget, like all of her companions, was a married woman with a baby, discover that they were both wrong. The final segment of Shute's extraordinary tale of warmth, love and self-fulfilment closes as any reader would hope with them finding one another and establishing a new life and, indeed, a new community in post-war Australia, not too far from Alice Springs.
While A TOWN LIKE ALICE is unquestionably a put-a-smile-on-your-face, make-you-say-aaaah romantic tale, it is certainly not chick lit by any means. It's an imaginative, moving tale which touches on the themes of wartime atrocity, courage in the face of adversity and the difficulties and opportunities involved with the construction of a pioneering community. The simple fact of the prejudiced treatment of the aboriginal people of Australian at that time is included in a sad, ironic, rather matter of fact way without comment or criticism. Although Jean Paget, as an enlightened forward thinker, is shown as wishing that it might be otherwise, she acts as she is expected to according to the norms of the day.
Drama, suspense, romance and superb story-telling! Would I recommend it to a potential reader? Oh my word, yes! Too right! I'm not sure exactly where I'd rank it but I am quite certain I'd add it to my list of best lifetime novels. Yes, it's THAT good.
Paul Weiss
October 8, 2019
Published in 1950, this modern classic is a story of a smart and capable woman, Jean Paget, as told by her solicitor and trustee, Noel Strachan, from the 1930’s to 1950’s. She is the heir to a trust established by an uncle, which is administered by Strachan’s firm. He becomes not only her solicitor but her friend. She eventually tells him about her time in Malaya (now part of Malaysia) during WWII, when she and a group of women with children were marched hundreds of miles to various villages, each Japanese leader sending them on to the next to avoid having to feed them. They suffer tremendous hardships, but eventually find a way to remain in one station until the war ends. While there, Jean meets an Australian soldier who tries to help them, to his peril. She returns to England, meets with Strachan, and travels back to Malaya and on to Australia, where the bulk of the novel transpires. It provides a vivid picture of what life was like in the Australian Outback at that time.
Themes include a woman’s place in society, entrepreneurship, and renewal of life after war. The attitudes of the period are in evidence in racial issues and gender roles; however, the author is attempting to show that these views are false. For example, Jean, being a woman, is assumed to be incompetent with money, but she proves to be an astute businesswoman. She also figures out a way to improve the lives of the women of the Malayan village that helped her group during the war.
The characters are likeable and convincing. The romantic elements of the story are held in the background and do not take over the narrative. I think it might have been even more effective if Jean had told her own story, as we are getting information second-hand, which keeps the reader at a bit of distance. I am not sure how our narrator got information about her love life, which she surely would not have mentioned at the level of detail portrayed (or perhaps this is how Strachan imagined it took place?) He obviously cares for her deeply. I think this book will appeal to those who enjoy stories of international travel, altruism, or strong women.
Themes include a woman’s place in society, entrepreneurship, and renewal of life after war. The attitudes of the period are in evidence in racial issues and gender roles; however, the author is attempting to show that these views are false. For example, Jean, being a woman, is assumed to be incompetent with money, but she proves to be an astute businesswoman. She also figures out a way to improve the lives of the women of the Malayan village that helped her group during the war.
The characters are likeable and convincing. The romantic elements of the story are held in the background and do not take over the narrative. I think it might have been even more effective if Jean had told her own story, as we are getting information second-hand, which keeps the reader at a bit of distance. I am not sure how our narrator got information about her love life, which she surely would not have mentioned at the level of detail portrayed (or perhaps this is how Strachan imagined it took place?) He obviously cares for her deeply. I think this book will appeal to those who enjoy stories of international travel, altruism, or strong women.
November 20, 2021
This is probably the most popular of Nevil Shute's books, accounting for almost half of all his 118,000 ratings on this site, and with some 3800 reviews.
It is a book you hear of often enough, but don't see about as much as you might expect, so I picked up a copy when I saw it. The story takes place over three parts, all narrated by Noel Strachan, an elderly solicitor who is acting for a client - making out his will, and then on his clients passing becoming a trustee.
In the first part , set in London, we follow Strachan tracking down Jean Paget, who is the inheritor of the mans money, although the capital is in trust until she reaches the age of 35 (young women cannot be trusted in the matter of money, don't you know!)
The second part flashes back to Jean Paget's time in Malaya during the war. She was working there and was taken prisoner by the Japanese with a group of British women and children. Speaking Malay, she takes a leaders role in the group, who are forced to walk large distances under guard to the women's POW camp, although this becomes a journey of many parts as there doesn't appear to be a camp, and the responsibility for them is passed from commander to commander. Along the way the women meet an Australian POW who is working as driver for the Japanese, and they strike up a friendship.
From that point on spoilers abound, so I won't go on, but as is pretty obvious from the title of the book, the third part of the book takes place in outback Australia.
It was an enjoyable book, very easy reading, and had it's moments of sadness and amusement, but the story wasn't without some poorly conceived aspects. The romance was pretty lamely written, and contradictory
It is, of course, a product of it's time, and shows its age with things like the derogatory terms for the Aboriginal stockmen, the casual mention of Aboriginals not being allowed to be in shops, and their completely subservient positions. Also dated was the strict morality of the time - not wanting to employ a girl as she was 'a slut', a woman not being permitted to stay overnight with a fiance, and a man even not being able to visit in her room. I suspect much of this would be foreign to modern readers.
Nevertheless with these flaws I am still glad I read this well known book, but I am not sure I will seek out further Nevil Shute books immediately.
4 stars.
It is a book you hear of often enough, but don't see about as much as you might expect, so I picked up a copy when I saw it. The story takes place over three parts, all narrated by Noel Strachan, an elderly solicitor who is acting for a client - making out his will, and then on his clients passing becoming a trustee.
In the first part , set in London, we follow Strachan tracking down Jean Paget, who is the inheritor of the mans money, although the capital is in trust until she reaches the age of 35 (young women cannot be trusted in the matter of money, don't you know!)
The second part flashes back to Jean Paget's time in Malaya during the war. She was working there and was taken prisoner by the Japanese with a group of British women and children. Speaking Malay, she takes a leaders role in the group, who are forced to walk large distances under guard to the women's POW camp, although this becomes a journey of many parts as there doesn't appear to be a camp, and the responsibility for them is passed from commander to commander. Along the way the women meet an Australian POW who is working as driver for the Japanese, and they strike up a friendship.
From that point on spoilers abound, so I won't go on, but as is pretty obvious from the title of the book, the third part of the book takes place in outback Australia.
It was an enjoyable book, very easy reading, and had it's moments of sadness and amusement, but the story wasn't without some poorly conceived aspects. The romance was pretty lamely written, and contradictory
It is, of course, a product of it's time, and shows its age with things like the derogatory terms for the Aboriginal stockmen, the casual mention of Aboriginals not being allowed to be in shops, and their completely subservient positions. Also dated was the strict morality of the time - not wanting to employ a girl as she was 'a slut', a woman not being permitted to stay overnight with a fiance, and a man even not being able to visit in her room. I suspect much of this would be foreign to modern readers.
Nevertheless with these flaws I am still glad I read this well known book, but I am not sure I will seek out further Nevil Shute books immediately.
4 stars.
August 13, 2016
A Town like Alice by Nevil Shute.
" Nevil Shute's most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the Malayan jungle during World War Two to the rugged Australian outback"
Having read the blurb on this novel I was really looking forward to reading this story as it was described as "Entertaining" and "Dramatic" but unfortunately for me I neither found the book Dramatic or entertaining and really could only be pushed to describing it as a pleasant read that is neither exciting or memorable.
The problem I had with this Novel was it seemed to be a book of two halfs and while the first half was interesting and very readable the second half was bland and not very believable for me. I found the story dragged and I kept waiting for something to happen to lift the story but it just plodded along until the end. It was like two different authors had written this book and the first had a good imagination and the second lacked the skills of the first and figured the reader had enough excitement for one book. Perhaps I am being a little harsh as it is probably a book of its time and I just didn't gel with it.
This is an easy read, the prose is good and while I did not find it riveting or exciting it is very readable and a pleasant story.
" Nevil Shute's most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the Malayan jungle during World War Two to the rugged Australian outback"
Having read the blurb on this novel I was really looking forward to reading this story as it was described as "Entertaining" and "Dramatic" but unfortunately for me I neither found the book Dramatic or entertaining and really could only be pushed to describing it as a pleasant read that is neither exciting or memorable.
The problem I had with this Novel was it seemed to be a book of two halfs and while the first half was interesting and very readable the second half was bland and not very believable for me. I found the story dragged and I kept waiting for something to happen to lift the story but it just plodded along until the end. It was like two different authors had written this book and the first had a good imagination and the second lacked the skills of the first and figured the reader had enough excitement for one book. Perhaps I am being a little harsh as it is probably a book of its time and I just didn't gel with it.
This is an easy read, the prose is good and while I did not find it riveting or exciting it is very readable and a pleasant story.
September 21, 2018
I am now posting a full review of this wonderful novel.
This book has to be one of the great love stories of all time. It is based on true events which happened in Sumatra during WW2 when a group of European women were forced by the Japanese to march for thousands of miles. This is one of Nevil Shute’s best loved novels and one which I read as a teenager. I admired Nevil Shute’s writing and his close association with aviation. He was a practical man with imagination and wrote about what he knew best in his quiet unassuming way. This book, along with others, was made into a movie in the fifties starring the great Australian actor, Peter Finch as Joe Harman the Australian cattleman from the outback. Virginia McKenna plays the lead role as the English heroine, Jean Paget. A TV minis series was also made during the eighties.
The story is told by an English solicitor who is executor of a will which causes him to search for a woman who is the only surviving party named in the will. He finds her eventually, and she tells him her story of how she’d been captured by the Japanese during the war along with more than thirty other women in Malaya. Along the way, she meets an Australian and of course, they fall in love, but there is no time for a relationship to develop as they only see each other a few times.
SPOILER ALERT!
During the march, half the women die, of exhaustion, decease and starvation. One mother dies and Jean carries the woman’s child on her hip for the rest of the trek and when Joe Harman meets her, he naturally believes her to be married. Very concerned, the gallant Aussie steals chickens from the Japanese to feed the malnourished women. For this, he is crucified. The women are marched away with Jean Paget believing she is the main cause of his horrible death. The storyline is nicely constructed and believable with the POV switching neatly between the old English solicitor, Jean Paget and Joe Harman.
The money Jean inherits does not come to her without complications, since her uncle did not believe women were capable of handling money. She will get an allowance until she is thirty-five, after which time she will inherit a sizeable sum. The book tells the story of what she does with the money and with the careful management and advice of the old solicitor (who becomes her best friend and admirer). The story takes place over a period of more than ten years, between Malaya, England and Australia, but is never dull. As time goes by, Jean’s courage and unexpected talents are revealed.
I have to confess this book gave me a lump in my throat. I am English and I love anything telling of life in the colonies i.e. Somerset Maugham et al. Shute does wonderful job in his unaffected way of storytelling. The plotting is masterful, the characters uplifting. I’d like to see a remake of this on film.
Previous post:
I have just been told that I've rated A Town Like Alice with only 3 stars. Actually I was merely giving a status update not a star rating. So, to put matters right and keep all the Shutists happy, I have upgraded it to five stars as I know it is a wonderful book and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Nevil Shute has been one of my heroes since I was a teenager and I have written a lot about him in my own book where he is a major player and very lovable. So, apologies to you Nevil up there in your big silver airship R100 in the heavens--an awesome machine!
I cannot wait to read the rest of his books again as he gave me so much inspiration through his writing and his courage as an aviator.
This book has to be one of the great love stories of all time. It is based on true events which happened in Sumatra during WW2 when a group of European women were forced by the Japanese to march for thousands of miles. This is one of Nevil Shute’s best loved novels and one which I read as a teenager. I admired Nevil Shute’s writing and his close association with aviation. He was a practical man with imagination and wrote about what he knew best in his quiet unassuming way. This book, along with others, was made into a movie in the fifties starring the great Australian actor, Peter Finch as Joe Harman the Australian cattleman from the outback. Virginia McKenna plays the lead role as the English heroine, Jean Paget. A TV minis series was also made during the eighties.
The story is told by an English solicitor who is executor of a will which causes him to search for a woman who is the only surviving party named in the will. He finds her eventually, and she tells him her story of how she’d been captured by the Japanese during the war along with more than thirty other women in Malaya. Along the way, she meets an Australian and of course, they fall in love, but there is no time for a relationship to develop as they only see each other a few times.
SPOILER ALERT!
During the march, half the women die, of exhaustion, decease and starvation. One mother dies and Jean carries the woman’s child on her hip for the rest of the trek and when Joe Harman meets her, he naturally believes her to be married. Very concerned, the gallant Aussie steals chickens from the Japanese to feed the malnourished women. For this, he is crucified. The women are marched away with Jean Paget believing she is the main cause of his horrible death. The storyline is nicely constructed and believable with the POV switching neatly between the old English solicitor, Jean Paget and Joe Harman.
The money Jean inherits does not come to her without complications, since her uncle did not believe women were capable of handling money. She will get an allowance until she is thirty-five, after which time she will inherit a sizeable sum. The book tells the story of what she does with the money and with the careful management and advice of the old solicitor (who becomes her best friend and admirer). The story takes place over a period of more than ten years, between Malaya, England and Australia, but is never dull. As time goes by, Jean’s courage and unexpected talents are revealed.
I have to confess this book gave me a lump in my throat. I am English and I love anything telling of life in the colonies i.e. Somerset Maugham et al. Shute does wonderful job in his unaffected way of storytelling. The plotting is masterful, the characters uplifting. I’d like to see a remake of this on film.
Previous post:
I have just been told that I've rated A Town Like Alice with only 3 stars. Actually I was merely giving a status update not a star rating. So, to put matters right and keep all the Shutists happy, I have upgraded it to five stars as I know it is a wonderful book and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Nevil Shute has been one of my heroes since I was a teenager and I have written a lot about him in my own book where he is a major player and very lovable. So, apologies to you Nevil up there in your big silver airship R100 in the heavens--an awesome machine!
I cannot wait to read the rest of his books again as he gave me so much inspiration through his writing and his courage as an aviator.
July 16, 2021
I have just met the most extraordinary woman in the pages of A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. Jean Paget’s story attests to her being a smart, resourceful, pragmatic woman. Shute presents several stories within this short work and demonstrates beautifully how a succinct and simple writing style can produce quite a complex and impactful story.
Shute begins his novel with the story of a London lawyer, Noel Strachan, who must locate the only heir to an estate of a Scotsman. Jean Paget learns of the trust her relative put into place and of the wealth that she now inherits. They become fast friends despite their vast age difference and Jean decides what she would like to do with some of her inheritance. She would like to build a well in a small village in Malaya in order to pay back the women who were so helpful to her during the war. Strachan slowly learns of Jean’s tragic past during the war years where she was captured by the Japanese in Malaya. Along with a number of other women and children, Jean was forced on a long 7 month walk wandering all over the country toward fictitious camps for women because none of the soldiers wanted to take responsibility for them.
The majority of the novel centers on the devastation and deprivation these women endured while losing half of their number to illness and exhaustion along the way. Having spent many years living in Malaya with her family, Jean knew the language and the culture very well. Her skills and knowledge kept this group from complete despair as Jean was the only one who could communicate. Eventually Jean’s resourcefulness and sincere kindness to the Malayan people and to their Japanese captors proves a providential ending to their trek as they find refuge in a small village where they learn to prepare the rice paddy fields and work along with the Malayan women until the end of the war.
At one point along the trek, Jean meets Joe Harman, an Australian prisoner driving trucks to move railway tracks across the country for the Japanese. Joe Harman helps these women with food and supplies by taking costly risks. Jean is a naturally inquisitive woman and leaves the war and Malaya with a brilliant idea of the Australian outback.
After heading back to Malaya after a few years reviving in England after the war, Jean learns of a new possibility that might change her entire future. Now Shute sends Jean on a new adventure without any hope of Noel Strachan’s ever seeing her in England again. The remaining story takes place in Australia and continues to tell of a savvy and progressive woman (for 1950 when Shute wrote this some of the ideas he presents are progressive, such as allowing the women to design the well themselves) who learns to adapt many aspects of her life.
I see two heroes in Jean and Joe in this story. Joe’s heroism is reflected in his risks he took to help Jean and the women who were desperate for some relief. However, I also see Jean as a hero herself. She selflessly rose to the challenge of seeing to the well-being of the women and children and became quite an inspiring example of a woman with integrity and strength. I don’t believe that Jean saw herself in this way even though she did save many lives. Jean explains, I only did what anybody could have done. To which is replied, That’s as it may be…The fact is, that you did it.
Shute begins his novel with the story of a London lawyer, Noel Strachan, who must locate the only heir to an estate of a Scotsman. Jean Paget learns of the trust her relative put into place and of the wealth that she now inherits. They become fast friends despite their vast age difference and Jean decides what she would like to do with some of her inheritance. She would like to build a well in a small village in Malaya in order to pay back the women who were so helpful to her during the war. Strachan slowly learns of Jean’s tragic past during the war years where she was captured by the Japanese in Malaya. Along with a number of other women and children, Jean was forced on a long 7 month walk wandering all over the country toward fictitious camps for women because none of the soldiers wanted to take responsibility for them.
The majority of the novel centers on the devastation and deprivation these women endured while losing half of their number to illness and exhaustion along the way. Having spent many years living in Malaya with her family, Jean knew the language and the culture very well. Her skills and knowledge kept this group from complete despair as Jean was the only one who could communicate. Eventually Jean’s resourcefulness and sincere kindness to the Malayan people and to their Japanese captors proves a providential ending to their trek as they find refuge in a small village where they learn to prepare the rice paddy fields and work along with the Malayan women until the end of the war.
At one point along the trek, Jean meets Joe Harman, an Australian prisoner driving trucks to move railway tracks across the country for the Japanese. Joe Harman helps these women with food and supplies by taking costly risks. Jean is a naturally inquisitive woman and leaves the war and Malaya with a brilliant idea of the Australian outback.
After heading back to Malaya after a few years reviving in England after the war, Jean learns of a new possibility that might change her entire future. Now Shute sends Jean on a new adventure without any hope of Noel Strachan’s ever seeing her in England again. The remaining story takes place in Australia and continues to tell of a savvy and progressive woman (for 1950 when Shute wrote this some of the ideas he presents are progressive, such as allowing the women to design the well themselves) who learns to adapt many aspects of her life.
I see two heroes in Jean and Joe in this story. Joe’s heroism is reflected in his risks he took to help Jean and the women who were desperate for some relief. However, I also see Jean as a hero herself. She selflessly rose to the challenge of seeing to the well-being of the women and children and became quite an inspiring example of a woman with integrity and strength. I don’t believe that Jean saw herself in this way even though she did save many lives. Jean explains, I only did what anybody could have done. To which is replied, That’s as it may be…The fact is, that you did it.
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