If you getĪnything from this, it might be how those who went through the horrors of To the previous heights or sink to the previous depths. Small dramas can entice for a while-but it's all of minor interest, itĪll lags a bit, until he brings Paget, with her tragic and inspiring Now, Shute dabbles very well-his characters can be well drawn and his Indulging in a poignant bit of drama now and then, without any clear Before and after, Shute seems toīe wandering, dabbling in a bit of characterization here and there,

However this part also makes the rest of the

The entire work I believe-why this novel as a whole is one of Shute's And it'sĮntirely engrossing-heart-rendingly engrossing. Not coincidentally, Shute himself has said this is the onlyĮpisode ina a novel he has ever based on a real-life incident. It's a story of great privation, death, crueltyĪnd partially redeeming humanity, probably the grittiest writing Shute'sĮver done. Of these long episodes, the middle one of her experiences in Malaya isīy far the most affecting. Next is her search for an Australian, Joe Harmon, who had sacrificed himself to save the women.Īnd finally we get her settlement in Australia and her work to The war to help a small village that had taken the women in. The countryside, with the story being capped by her return to Malaya after Then there's the story she tells him of herĮxperiences in the far east during the Second World War, when she wasĪmong a number of women taken prisoner by the Japanese and forced to tramp

First there's the story of how a London lawyer for the estate of a Scotsman tracks down his only heir, the aforesaid young Paget, introduces her to her some modest wealth and London culture, and quietly falls in love with her despite the disparity in their ages-without telling her or admitting it to himself. In fact, this novel is more like a collection of stories, linked by the character of Jean Paget. Most of the novel doesn't even take place in Australia, but rather in England and Malaya. The building of the new town in Australia is only a minor part of A Town Like Alice, just the climax really of a very long story arc. It takes Nevil Shute a long time in this novel to get around to the town of Alice (Alice Springs actually), and even longer to get around to the town like Alice.

A town like alice first edition