Rating: 
Summary: A Town Like Alice
Review: An unlikely title---until you read on. A wonderful story. The journey of Jean Paget and Joe Harmann through WWII and then to their meeting again six years later. Jean proves to be a character of strength, courage and compassion as she marches through Malaya with other women and children. This story encompasses life at it's worst and people at their best. This is an adventure of the soul and a journey of the heart. A happy and poignant ending to a lovely book.
Rating:
Summary: An adventure and love story by one of the best.
Review: This book by Nevil Shute was presented in a PBS series and if you saw the movie you should read the book. Nevil Shute is a master storyteller and this is one of his best.The story chronicals a young English womans forced march through southeast Asia as a war prisoner and her life afterwards as she leaves her home to find the Austrailian soldier who helped her.Together they begin to build a small outback settlement into their dream town, " A town like Alice". This is a great book for all ages and I am sure after reading it you too will become a Nevil Shute fan.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic will they- won't they tale with a nice twist.
Review: This book opens in Malaysia during WW2, with descriptions based on Shute's own experiences in Indonesia during the war. In a chance encounter an English Girl and an Australian soldier meet and feel something special exists between them.After the war, each attempts to contact the other. They travel the world to find out if their memories of that defining moment are real, or were a personal illusion, not held by the other person. A real heart rending tale of true romance set in a passionate backdrop of war and the aftermath, and the wild spaces of central Australia. This is not just an Australian classic, it is a classic! A relly good memorable read.
Rating:
Summary: A timeless classic of love and adventure.
Review: When asked what is my favorite book I always respond that I have two. The first is "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, and the second is "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute. I've recommended it to many people over the years and I haven't found one person yet that could put it down. It's a true classic, one that I've enjoyed over and over. Shute's better known "On The Beach" is as good as "A Town Like Alice" but it is much darker in content. "Alice" is a sweet love story that spans time and distance. If you haven't read it yet do yourself a favor, pick it up, sit down in a comfy chair and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A book you cannot forget
Review: I have listened to many of Nevil Shute's books, and this is my favourite. The book's starting-point is a real story that happened during World War II: When the Japanese invaded Sumatra, they captured 80 Dutch women and children. The prisoners were forced to walk along the roads for 2 ½ years, and by the end less than 30 were alive. Shute's novel takes place on Malakka, because he knew this island better than Sumatra. His main character is an English-woman called Jean Paget. In a touching way he describes how the women have to fight for their survival. When the war ends, Jean is told that she has inherited some money, and decides to go to Australia to meet a man she cannot forget
Rating:
Summary: One of my favourite ever books
Review: I found this in a secondhand bookstore whilst travelling for a year in Australia, and spent three "rest-up" days on a hostel porch near not-very-exciting Bundaberg in Queensland, oblivious to everyone & everything but the unfolding events in this book. I picked it up because I had seen the excellent mini series with Bryan Brown many years earlier and hoped the book would prove an even richer experience. I was right. Quietly compelling & beautifully told, this novel made my heart ache to be leaving Australia whilst I was still there! This was one I selfishly took home with me, rather than the usual (and wonderfully welcome) backpacker practice of leaving books on hostel bookshelves for the next weary, and word hungry traveller.
Rating:
Summary: Oh my word, this is a wonderful book!
Review: This is a beautifully written story, cleverly and very poignantly told from the point of view of a 70-something man - a careful, considerate London solicitor who is the trustee (with broad discretionary powers) of a will that leaves a considerable sum of money (but not a lump sum, due to the conditions of the will) to a young woman. Jean Paget is that young woman, and she is an extraordinary person, making her story very compelling reading. The weaving of the threads of her life - her WWII experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese in Malaya; her fateful encounter with Australian Joe Harmon; the inheritance that allows her to leave the mundane working world; her interaction with solicitor Noel Strachan; and her search for her true destiny - is done in the most masterful way. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is deeply satisfying reading. It is everything a novel should be.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Storyteller
Review: Nevil Shute is a magician with the written word. Jean Paget is a true heroine, and somebody that I aspire to be some day. Joe Harman is the hunky Aussie cowboy. They are both heroes. This is a must read!!!! I guarantee you will love this book. It has all the essentials of a good story.
Rating:
Summary: A town like Alice
Review: My comment on this book is that we can learn a lot from this story and the difficult situations refugees have to face and fear. Nobody in the book liked the refugees and the people kept saying that there was no place for them. In our school there are many refugee children, and it's really not easy for them to adjust. So everyone should try to make the best of the situation he/she is in. I think it's a great book for pupils who like adventure stories and books about war. I enjoyed the book very much and I hope that other students will read it too.
Rating:
Summary: Classic romance
Review: I bought a version of this book 30 years ago and it remains one of my favorites. It is absolutely flawless. One of the all-time greats! Spent almost 15 years looking for the old Peter Finch movie and finally found it. The Bryan Brown version is good and covers most of the book but the Finch version is definitive. This is exquisite!
| 
