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A Town Like Alice
 
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A Town Like Alice (Mass Market Paperback)

by Nevil Shute (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reissue edition (Mar 1991)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0345353749
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345353740
  • Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.7 x 2.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 750,062 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Book Description
Jean Paget has survived World War II as a prisoner of the Japanese in Malaya. After the war she comes into an inheritance that enables her to return to Malaya to repay the villagers who helped her to survive. But her return visit changes her life again, when she discovers that an Australian soldier she thought had died has survived. She goes to Australia in search of him and of the town he described to her. Jean sets out to apply the same determination that helped her to survive the war, to turning the community into 'a town like Alice'. She finds both her soldier and romance. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author
Nevil Shute Norway worked as an aeronautical engineer at Vickers before setting up his own airship company. He served in both world wars and was a commander in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in World War II, working on secret projects. He flew his own aircraft to Australia to research On the Beach, before settling there permanently. His books are based on his own wartime and aircraft industry experiences. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly enjoyable classic, 18 Jan 2001
By Christine L (Berkshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: A Town Like Alice (Paperback)
I have just re-read this book for the umpteenth time and I still love it as much as I did after reading it the first time. One of the really powerful features of this book is the fact that although the book is fiction, the foundation of the story is based on the experience of countless women and children who found themselves captured by the Japanese during World War 2.

I'd say that this book has everything. It's a book about remarkable survival and remarkable people. It's an adventure book. It's a love story. The characters are very sympathetic and you can't help liking them and hoping that they find happiness. It's one of the few books I've read that I've actually wanted a sequel to.

For a man of his generation I also think that Mr Shute wrote about Jean Paget with an insight that's second to none. I'm well impressed.

On a whole, it's a very well written page-turner that I thoroughly enjoy every time I pick it up.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful entrancing and yet down to earth., 19 Jan 2006
By Duncan E V Curtis (Shepperton, Middx United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Town Like Alice (Paperback)
I have read and reread this book over many years. Once you become a fan of Nevil Shute you will want to read all his books. Take it on holiday and give it your all. Let yourself be submersed in the period; a different age to now with a different style of hero. This story is of ordinary people, with an extrarordinary tale to tell. A meeting of 2 people, both victims of the Japanese, who fall in love under the harshest of conditions and then do it all over again, 6 years later when the war is over. Read it more than once to get the full benefit.And then go onto read more from the famous author, who had so many qualities and gifts. How could he be an engineer, serve in secret operations in the war, be a sailor and a pilot and go on long distance air ship travel, as well as write all these novels.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic, 15 Jun 2003
This review is from: A Town Like Alice (Paperback)
I love this book!!

The author really lets you see into the characters lives and have a real empathy for them. If you have seen the Film I would read the book, it can only enhance your enjoyment.

If you have not seen the film, the story is of a young girl during the war being marched around by the Japanese because no prisoner of war camp was available for women. Then the story jumps to post war life in London, and her dealings with her lawyer. Then another jump as she goes in search of what really happened to the man she fell in love with during the war whom she saw executed, then finally her new life in Austrialia.

Sounds confusing but its not!!

An excellent classic which you will remember for life.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A love story with a difference
A double love story actually, with one love unrequited. Told in a quiet style which somehow suits it. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Teemacs

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable war-time romance
This is the first Nevil Shute book I've read and I really enjoyed it. It's hard to believe it's based on a true story, which makes it seem all the madder. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2006 by Reenie Roo

2.0 out of 5 stars zero emotion
I have enjoyed a couple of Neville Shute's books. He was of course a gifted author, and he wrote quite beautifully. Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic forever
This book has the power to truly inspire it's reader. Although the main character borders somewhat on the saintly there is not a page in the book where the reader is not entirely... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book
This is an excellent book and a timeless classic. I read it after visiting Alice Springs and it evoked great memories of the outback. Read more
Published on 19 May 2003 by m_malalage

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book - lousy place
An excellent book that hasn't dated at all. It's primarily a love story, although there's not a great deal of love in it! Well worth the read. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars A great title which is hard to put down.
This title is definately a good read. It does not just contain one subject, but a mixture of romance, the horrors of war, and one woman's dream to build up a little towm into... Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2000 by pr9khs@bath.ac.uk

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my top ten favorites of a lifetime.
I first read Nevil Shute's The Legacy, as a high school student in the sixties. Now republished as A Town Like Alice, I was delighted to discover it all over again through the... Read more
Published on 24 Oct 1998

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