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.

A very pleasant story.

The story is very light. The relationships sweet. A nice little historic fiction about surviving the Japanese during WWII as a female prisoner of war with an adventure to the Australian outback.

A Town Like Alice

For me, I had to fast forward through some of the World War II parts, as I felt it dragged on and on too slowly. I think the author wanted the reader to feel how the women felt. But I didn't have the patience for it. Anyway, I'm glad I did keep listening, because I really enjoyed the rest of the book.

Outstanding reading of a wonderful classic

Would you consider the audio edition of A Town Like Alice to be better than the print version?

Having enjoyed reading the book twice as a young adult, following the 1981 release of the mini-series, I was almost halfway through a third reading when I saw the audio book on sale and decided to purchase it and listen to the last half of the story. While the book is wonderful, I feel the audio edition was even better. The narration was so smooth and appropriate for the story, and I felt completely immersed in the events of the book.

What does Robin Bailey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Having listened to about 30 audiobooks so far this year, I'd put Robin Bailey at or near the top of my list of favorite narrators. His ability to portray each character with a unique voice is superb! He read the story as I believe the author intended it to be read, with perfect hesitations and emphasis in just the right places. I truly felt drawn into the story -- more so than when I just read the book -- and was disappointed when the audiobook ended. I'll definitely be looking for more books narrated by him.

Great story!

I didn't know where this story was going at first, but I stayed captivated. Enjoyed the story very much.

Love it- fabulous story

I originally saw the pbs production 30 years ago which I enjoyed, so thought i would listen to the book as i had forgotten a lot of the story. The audio book is wonderful. I am 2/3 of the way through it and so enjoying it! If you liked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I believe you would really enjoy this. So glad I bought this audio. One of the oldies but goodies! Highly recommend it. Probably more a woman's book IMHO, but some men may enjoy it as well.

A bit outdated but has heart and soul

The underlying story from WWII is fascinating, and this coming from someone (me!) who swore off WWII books for the indefinite future! Shute has a positive view of humanity and even in the war, there is only one really evil person. He shows how ordinary people can rise to extraordinary situations and how eager we really are to connect and help each other. I chose this book because I so enjoyed the same theme with a very different story in Shute's Trustee from The Toolroom.

There are a couple of flaws to the book. I think the later part is all sort of epilogue and not as strong as the earlier sections. Having the story told by a third person is a little odd, since some of the time he is narrating things he couldn't really know. And the casual racism toward the "abos" is a bit alarming.

The narration is very good, rather subdued but it works fine.

Shute’s best work

Terrific book! Brutal at times but historical. We’ll written characters. I was sorry to see it end. Highly recommended!

Really enjoyed characters.

I really enjoyed the character development. It’s a feel good book with good people. 4.4 stars!!

Narrator

The storytelling approach. It made it seem like the narrator was a friend you were listening to relay an incredible tale of events that were absolutely fascinating.

Well Done!

Loved this story! I’ve heard it twice now and it was just as interesting! The reader did an excellent job and loved the details of it all! Nevil Shute did an amazing job!