A Town Like Alice

By: Nevil Shute

Narrated by: Robin Bailey

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

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.

4.5

Solid in every way especially the characters. I loved this book and learned so much about outback Australia and aspects of the war in places I hadn't read about before

loved it!

loved this book! Narrator was so engaging..I felt like he was telling me a story not reading..

I wished it never ended

Such a romantic, old-timey saga! I love Australia, the people and land were so welcoming to me when I visited. This is an excellent tribute and a darling listen!

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.

A lovely story

This is a book in two parts -- the first is about the struggles of women POW's on the Malaysian peninsula during WWII. That tale, in and of itself was worth the listen. The second part is about the heroine's desire to find the Australian soldier who helped the women stay alive during their ordeal. It is wonderfully descriptive of western Australia during the post-war period. An "extra" is the voice of the narrator, an older London solicitor who obviously cares deeply for the heroine.

For those who have been to or are familiar with Australia, this glimpse of the past is quite pleasing. It is a book that will hold the listener's attention.

A delightful book to listen to!

I had decided to give this book 4 stars for the story, but it gets bumped up to 5 stars because the reader is charming and a delight to listen to. Then, I heard that the book is based on a true war story, and I now know that it is worth the 5 star rating. I was really sorry to see it end, and will look for more books by the author and narrator.

Deserves to be a classic

I listened to this book two years ago and I still think about it. I had the pleasure to live in Australia for a short time and for me this book captured the very spirt of the country. The narrator was excellent and the writer took me to another time and place. I saw the scenery imagined the smells and felt the emotions of the characters. This book will remain in my memory and someday in the future I will visit A Town Like Alice again.

I love Neville Shute!

I have read two books by him: Trustee from the Toolroom and this one, A Town Like Alice. I love the measured, logical unfolding of his stories; the old world gentility of times gone by, and of the pioneer spirit of the people of those times. If you like gentle, positive stories of good, thoughtful people... read Neville Shute!

I adored this little book

I started this at the onset of the stress and worry of the Pandemic. This book brought me a lot of solace and created a little place for my mind to travel and escape to easily. Not every book can do that.
There are a few things which by today's societal standards would be unacceptable I suppose but that must be accepted as the time it was written in.
The story was sweet, the characters were very likable (I secretly why to be Jean Paget) And it went into various different directions, almost creating new stories within one book.
I really enjoyed the narrator as well

Liked this book very much.

Where does A Town Like Alice rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is in the top half of the audiobooks I have listened to so far.

Any additional comments?

Very interesting listen.