A Town Like Alice

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

By Michael, Santa Barbara, CA

Excellent book. Tends to slow down a bit in the 2nd half, but overall a compelling story about interesting people and times. The descriptions about life in the UK and Australia were fascinating. The narration was quite good, with the narrator going back and forth from the London accent of the UK to the Australia accent.

Good story, told well. I appreciate the other reviews, because I might never have bought this without them.
No axes to grind, no hidden agendas, clean and well written. Thanks.