A Town Like Alice in Retro Reads

Mar 23, 2010 Hannah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-reads, historicals

This is a very hard book to categorize or review. I read it almost 2 weeks ago, and have been trying to figure out how to convey it's essence. I won't be able to, but here goes:

A Town Like Alice starts off fairly dry, with a narrative by an old English attorney (who will continue to be the narrator of the story). He sets up the premise of why young Jean Paget, our heroine, comes to receive an inheritance. It's the early 1950's, and the old attorney and Jean form a friendship due to the fact that This is a very hard book to categorize or review. I read it almost 2 weeks ago, and have been trying to figure out how to convey it's essence. I won't be able to, but here goes:

A Town Like Alice starts off fairly dry, with a narrative by an old English attorney (who will continue to be the narrator of the story). He sets up the premise of why young Jean Paget, our heroine, comes to receive an inheritance. It's the early 1950's, and the old attorney and Jean form a friendship due to the fact that his firm will handle her money until she is 35 years old. This section is kind of dull reading, but then the narrative takes off when a cold, windy rainstorm keeps Jean and the attorney at his home one afternoon, and Jean tells him her story of being a Japanese prisoner of war in Malaya during WWII. She recounts how she survived the death march (which is based on actual events) and met the man of her future dreams: Aussie Joe Harmon.

This section of the book I adored SO much. It was 5 star all the way, and I wish it could have continued. However, Jean and Joe's wartime attraction was abruptly brought to and end, and the story fast-forwarded back to 1950's England.

The final section of the book dealt with Jean receiving her legacy, and her dream to do something positive with the money to help others. It then focused on her trip to Australia to find Joe, and see for herself if anything could come of their attraction to each other. They reunite, court and marry and live to build up a no-account outback town into "A Town Like Alice" ("Alice" being Alice Springs).

Frankly, this section of the book wasn't as good as the Malayan portion. It seemed as if the romance was a little contrived, and I got soooo tired of hearing Joe Harmon exclaim "Oh my word" for the 100th time (don't Aussie cowboys have a more colorful vocab. then that??)

In the end, I'm giving this book 3.5 stars because the middle section was excellent, and it carried the weaker sections for me. It's definitely worth reading, and I'm glad I did :) ...more

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Feb 23, 2013 MomToKippy rated it really liked it

Shelves: ww2, favorites, historical-fiction-romance, travel-fiction, australia

There's nothing like an engineer writing a book. Cool.

Here's an image from the 1981 series. I need to write a proper review but thought I'd share this. ...more

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Jan 13, 2014 Katy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Well written & a good story. I had to give it 5-stars as I stayed up all night thinking, "Just one more chapter & I'll go to bed." Hahaha -- finished it. ...more

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Dec 15, 2013 Lesley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I first read this book in my early teens and again in my late 20s; I have watched the movie and the TV mini-series. Now I've just finished reading the book for the third time. It has lost none of its appeal, and, should I live long enough, when I read it again in another decade or two, I'm sure I will enjoy it just as much then as I have with each reading.

And even at the finish of my third read, still 5 plus stars. 09/10/2021 ...more

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Jun 12, 2008 Barb in Maryland rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: keepers, military, romance-goodies, historical-fiction

10 Sept 2021--re-read with Retro Reads group. Bumping rating up to 5 stars.
Oh my word, what a lovely book.

I first read this years ago, sometime after watching the wonderful mini-series starring Bryan Brown and Helen Morse (as Joe Harmon and Jean Paget), with Gordon Jackson as Noel Strachan. I still picture those actors when I re-read the book.

The author's prose is calm, straight-forward story-telling, with Noel as our narrator. Once you get past the background info of the first chapter, the stor ...more

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Jul 29, 2007 CLM rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: wwii, fiction, 20th-century, australia-new-zealand

Captivating World War II and thereafter story about a courageous young woman, first trapped in Malaysia when the war breaks out, and then trying to rebuild her life afterwards.

Bears some resemblance to the miniseries Tenko.

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Apr 13, 2017 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001, travel-the-world

Another wonderful tale by Nevil Shute. Yes, a bit dated and some prejudices, but beautiful writing.

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Sep 23, 2012 Cindy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, historical-fiction, fiction, australia-queensland-new-zealand, kindle-or-e-book, british, favorites

I love this book and have read it or just the second part of it many many times!

PS. The first time I read this, I was Jean's age and knew I could survive. Now I am one of the old ones with sore joints and no longer confident of surviving. ...more

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Oct 06, 2013 Shareen rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance, strong-female-character

I just reread this book after not having read it since high school. I enjoyed it just as much as I remembered. It's the story of a woman who is a prisoner of war in Malaysia in WWII and what she does with her life afterwards. It's about being strong, taking chances and making the best of difficult circumstances. ...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Laura Anne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: australia-oceania, world-war-ii, asia, fiction

The scenes around the death-march are powerful five-star material, the latter half has a couple amazing moments as well, and I adored the love story. Overall, I enjoy Shute's style, but he meanders away from the strongest points of his plot a bit too often. I really didn't need to know everything about the finances of opening my own small business in the middle of Australia. ...more

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