A Town Like Alice

A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute

Evan’s ESS = 9 out of 10

Erin’s ESS =  out of 10

Content = PG (Adult Content, Violence, Sexual Content, Dingoes, Helpful Mechanics)

Why:  In order to fully experience this review we recommend utilizing an Australian accent from this point forth.  For some warm up words try a few of our favorites from the book:  Bonza, Crook, Ringer, Walkabout, and Biffo.  Oh, and we’re happy to report that no babies were stolen by dingoes in this story...

Noel Strachan got more than he bargained for when, as solicitor, he notified Jean Paget of her unexpected inheritance.  He was intrigued by his new client and quickly learned of her horrific past.  It turned out that Ms. Paget was taken prisoner by the Japanese’s army while working overseas in the country of Malaya.  Along with several other women and children the group was marched unapologetically back and forth across the country while WWII ran its course.  The conditions were ghastly and many from the group didn’t survive, yet, for Jean Paget, a chance encounter would alter her life forever.

We have so many good things to say about A Town Like Alice, so let us get started.  We loved the Aussie, Joe Harman.  Yes, we loved Jean Paget too, but Joe Harman is the most recent addition to our ever-growing list of all time favorite literary characters.  That being said, Jean Paget was an extraordinarily courageous woman.  She took on a leadership role in the jungles of Malaya during an incomprehensible set of circumstances.  And her post war life was no less impressive.  We don’t want to say too much, but she was charitable when most people would have looked the other way and she managed to survive a pretty epic horse journey.  We also enjoyed the irony of Jean being unable to fully take control of her inheritance because her benefactor didn’t think too highly of the money management skills of females.  Guess who gets the last laugh... if she would have been the type to laugh at things like that.              

We don’t have too many negative things to say about A Town Like Alice, but we could see how some readers might think the actual climax occurred at the halfway mark with the culmination of WWII.  For us though, there was so much more to the story and we loved to watch the intriguing post war scenario play out.  We also thoroughly enjoyed exploring the villages of Malaya and various parts of Australia.  Still, what makes this novel even more interesting is that much of the plot is based on real events.  Why do we suddenly want to move to the outback?