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A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
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A Town Like Alice (original 1950; edition 1989)

by Nevil Shute

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3,7181393,336 (4.05)463
"A tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from Malayan jungle during World War II to the rugged Australian outback." -- Cover, p.4.
Member:chained_bear
Title:A Town Like Alice
Authors:Nevil Shute
Info:General Publishing Company, Limited (1989), Mass Market Paperback
Collections:Your library
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Work Information

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute (1950)

  1. 00
    The Flamboya Tree: Memories of a Mother's Wartime Courage by Clara Kelly (whymaggiemay)
    whymaggiemay: Though fiction, the war experiences of Jean Padgett are based in fact from the Island of Sumatra, and gives a good view of what was going on on other islands in the Pacific.
  2. 00
    In the Wet by Nevil Shute (Booksloth)
  3. 00
    The Promise of Rain by Donna Milner (jayne_charles)
    jayne_charles: More POW hell
  4. 00
    Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II by Darlene Deibler Rose (CherylLonski)
    CherylLonski: One is a work of fiction, the other is a biographical account. One author is male, the other female. One British, one American. Yet the stories intersect in interesting ways in their telling of a painful time in world history.
1950s (90)
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» See also 463 mentions

English (133)  Danish (4)  German (1)  All languages (138)
Showing 1-5 of 133 (next | show all)
It's rare for me to give a book five stars, but this book is an absolute gem. The prose is lovely without being overdone, the plot is engrossing, and the characters were finely drawn. I can't wait to read every book Nevil Shute ever wrote, and will consider it an honor to do so. ( )
  silva_44 | Mar 6, 2024 |
What a beautifully written novel inspired in part by a real event during the Japanese occupation of Sumatra during World War II (which I learned in the Author’s Note at the end)! The story itself was compelling — I barely took a break all of New Year’s Day as I devoured it. The central characters were well drawn. Given this novel was published in 1950, I was surprised and pleased that the female protagonist, Jean Paget, was portrayed as a strong, competent, savvy, visionary woman, who endured and rose above the deplorable conditions of her captivity during WWII in Malaysia and whose later unexpected inherited wealth comes full circle from Australia to Scotland and England back to Australia. The story is told from the perspective of Noel Strachan, one of the trustees of the trust for Miss Paget’s benefit, a London solicitor, who is also an interesting character. Thrilled to have started my 2023 reading journey on this high note. ( )
  bschweiger | Feb 4, 2024 |
"Brave people in strange scenes"
This book inspired me to be brave! If Jean can do it, I can do it. ( )
  ahjohnston | Dec 21, 2023 |
The movie is excellent as well. This book is based on a true story. ( )
  Eurekas | Apr 29, 2023 |
I had never heard of the author and assumed the book was new. The book was new, the story wasn’t new it first came out in 1950. Predictable to a degree but so well told it was a pleasure to read such wonderful writing.
A woman who is part of a group of women and children who are first prisoners and then cast adrift in Malaya during WWII. The woman comes into some money and wants to make some changes.
In addition to taking place in Malaya, it also takes place in London, and NE Australia.
Excellent book. ( )
  zmagic69 | Mar 31, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 133 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (30 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Nevil Shuteprimary authorall editionscalculated
Bailey, RobinNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hunt, NeilNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lomax, EricIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Belongs to Publisher Series

Ballantine Books (Fiction 30565)
Pan Giant (X91)
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Epigraph
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.
— W. B. Yeats
Dedication
First words
James MacFadden died in March 1905 when he was forty-seven years old; he was riding in the Driffield Point-to-Point.
On the publication of this book I expect to be accused of falsifying history, especially in regard to the march and death of the homeless women prisoners. (Author's Note)
[Introduction] I was born in 1919.
Quotations
The soldiers ... came to the evacuees sitting numbly in the veranda of the accounts office.... they were ordered to give up all fountain-pens and wrist-watches and rings.... Jean lost her watch and had her bag searched for a fountain-pen, but she had packed it in her luggage.
Ayer Penchis ... was a Malay village which housed the labour for a number of rubber plantations in the vicinity. The latex-processing plant of one stood near at hand and by it was a sort of palm thatch barn, used normally for smoking sheets of the raw rubber hung on horizontal laths.
"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."
Last words
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Disambiguation notice
"A Town Like Alice" was originally published as "The Legacy".
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"A tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from Malayan jungle during World War II to the rugged Australian outback." -- Cover, p.4.

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