• A Town Like Alice

  • By: Nevil Shute
  • Narrated by: Robin Bailey
  • Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (3,323 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
A Town Like Alice  By  cover art

A Town Like Alice

By: Nevil Shute
Narrated by: Robin Bailey
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.50

Buy for $21.50

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle. While on the march, the group run into some Australian prisoners, one of whom, Joe Harman, helps them steal some food, and is horrifically punished by the Japanese as a result. After the war, Jean tracks Joe down in Australia and together they begin to dream of surmounting the past and transforming his one-horse outback town into a thriving community like Alice Springs...

©1989 The Trustees of the Estate of the Late Nevil Shute Norway (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about A Town Like Alice

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,037
  • 4 Stars
    914
  • 3 Stars
    282
  • 2 Stars
    58
  • 1 Stars
    32
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,804
  • 4 Stars
    590
  • 3 Stars
    157
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    13
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,637
  • 4 Stars
    674
  • 3 Stars
    217
  • 2 Stars
    47
  • 1 Stars
    21

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

An all time favorite I have read many times...

If you have never read Nevil Shute, you are missing an opportunity to revitialize your personal outlook on life. This is a extraordinary story of a women who has the mental capacity and spiritual drive to do something special with her life. Become immersed in the spectacular images and prose of an English born aeronautical engineer who served during both world wars, eventually becoming an author and settling with his family in Australia. As one of his seven books, you will experience a simple story that serves as an introduction to his later, more powerful, works. Free from political commentary or nuance, you will find this a story that impels us to look beyond the mundane, and perhaps prompt us to visualize our own lives as an opportunity to better the world as our abilities and situations permit. In Mr. Shute's other six books you will discover his uncommon world view which is sure to enrich your own.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

73 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Could not quit listening

This was my first audiobook (book-on-tape in those days); I asked Audible to provide it and was pleased to see it recently appear. Thanks, Audible!

On re-listening, it was even better than the first time. It is TERRIFIC. The story is spell-binding, somewhat historical and absolutely riveting. The narrator is simply superb. I can't imagine anyone from pre-teen age onward who would not be spellbound by the combination of narration plus superb writing plus story.

MOST highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

66 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Better still in Audio form

This is a gentle and genteel adventure story, beautifully told, and even more wonderfully read. Robin Bailey hits the exact right note for every one of the many voices in this tale, and where I might have grown tired of reading this excellent book in print form (I love literature but have been spoiled by good audiobooks), it rolls along at a perfect pace for listening.

The book itself is somewhat dated, and the casual racism of 1950s Australia is acknowledged and dismissed without further comment, but read in the context of its times it is a spirited pioneer story, a love story and tempered venture into feminism. One of the few audiobooks I will save for another listen in the future.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

57 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story, beautifully told

The story was amazing and engrossing from start to finish (well, not quite from the start; the very beginning sounded boring, with what seemed at the time to be an unneccessarily detailed narrative about an old man hiring a solicitor to write his will, and I almost switched to another book on my iPod. But I stuck it out and was quickly pulled into the story). The characters are wonderful and the plot is fascinating. It never gets slow; I found myself sitting in my car to continue listening when I'd get to work, reluctant to leave the story. I love the narration. The reader was perfect for this book. This is one of the most memorable stories I've listened to in my many years as an Audible subscriber.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

53 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

great story!

I discovered Nevil Shute in my late teens and was thrilled to see this old favorite finally available with Audible. As with many Nevil Shute books, it starts off slowly but then becomes completely engrossing. Fascinating picture of life in Malaya and Australia in the '40s and early '50s, engaging characters. Excellent narration, perfect for the story. Am hoping that other Shute favorites will be added soon - Pied Piper, No Highway, Trustee from the Toolroom, Pastoral, In the Wet.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

53 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

About as good as it gets....

I've listened to about 300 Audible titles in the past 8 years and this one is in my Top Ten. Superbly written and superbly read.

From what I can tell, most of Audible's best sellers are junk -- endless vampire drivel, bargeloads of witless thrillers and so forth -- but a few downloads like "Alice" can redeem the whole enterprise.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

50 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Two Husbands, One Book, Two Stories

Way back in the mid seventies my first husband and I divorced. We argued over the custody of three things - our son, the dog and a book, The Legacy. I won 2 of the 3 items (he got the dog). Through the years I delighted in both my son and rereading Nevil Shute's wonderful book. The Legacy was renamed A Town Like Alice. (Personally I feel the original title fits the story better)

I enjoyed A Town Like Alice so much that when my second husband and I traveled to Australia in 1999 I insisted we visit the outback, Alice Springs in particular. We spent 2 nights and 3 days on a working station just outside Alice. I kept looking for Joe or Jean to come greet us.

What makes A Town Like Alice such a great book to read is the completion of an interesting and complex storyline. A Town Like Alice takes place in England, Malaysia and Australia. The first part of the story occurs during World War II. That part of Nevil Shute's story is somewhat historically correct. It's interesting to read about the women taken prisoner by the Japanese in Malaysia, and the strength if the human spirit. This novel has everything - war, survival, a legacy, romance, business savvy, friendship,humanity and more.

I highly recommend A Town Like Alice. It is a great book to read and an equally fine audible book. Robin Bailey, the narrator, is easy to listen to. He does well portraying all the various characters throughout the story. A Town Like Alice will not disappoint you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

An All Time Favorite Novel

This is one of the best novels I've ever read and Robin Bailey's audio narration is perfect. The quiet tone of the book's narrator, both as written by Shute and underplayed by Bailey, makes the Malaysian WWII horrors described listenable without stopping, except to rewind and relisten occasionally. The un-ending British/Australian stiff-upper-lip recollection of what happened is typical of another time and place. The characterizations, as in all Nevil Shute novels, makes the story riveting. The ultimate happy resolution, while completely foreseeable, is nuanced in unexpected ways and keeps the listener involved to the end.

I wish there were more Nevil Shute books available on audio. I rented one about the Australian flying doctor service some 20 years ago from Books on Tape that was excellent. That one isn't even available in used print (Amazon). Surely there are more novels on audio from Australia or England that Audible/Amazon could obtain rights to and bring to their readers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A GREAT Book

A wonderful book! A really great love story, that isn't a romance! Unforgettable likable characters.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • g
  • 04-21-13

Continental adventure worth the ride

This is the second book that I have listened to by Nevil Shute, and it inspired me, once again to follow his work. Shute’s stories are both entertaining and informative; simple and grand at the same time. It is so easy to picture the narrative and dialogue, excellently narrated by Robin Bailey. This story, written in the 1950’s, would have been the “Indiana Jones and How the West Was Won” type of story for the time. It is about personal struggle, character, adventure, and romance across continents and countries that included, England, Malaya and Australia during WWII. Great storytelling!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful