A Town Like Alice

I read A Town Like Alice (#107) by Nevile Shute because it was on the recommended list for my upcoming tour of Australia with Outdoor Adventure Travel.  I had vague recollections of seeing a Masterpiece Theatre version of the book many years ago.  I do remember Bryan Brown being crucified by the Japanese commander in the miniseries, but not much else.  I am so glad that I finally took the time to read this marvelous book.

Noel Strachan, a London soliciter, tells the story from his involvement with one of his Scotch clients who wishes to draw up a will for his brother's widow and her two children.  It's veddy, veddy British and a tad dusty to begin with, but once Mr. Stachan meets the surviving daughter after World War II and starts to learn her story, it's all the more compelling because of of its understatedness.  Jean Paget, it turns out, is a force to be reckoned with in her own quiet way.  Because her uncle didn't believe women could handle money, Strachan knows he and Jean will have a working relationship until she turns forty, many years in the future.  The legacy is a surprise to Jean, and she takes time to consider what she will do with it.  She decides to return to Malaya, where she and other British women and children were Japanese prisoners of war.  She feels she has a debt to pay to the Malayan villagers who allowed them to settle there for the duration of the war.  One debt she can never repay, however, is to Joe Harman, the Australian prisoner of war who tried to help them with food and other vital supplies, and who was beaten to death by the Japanese Captain Sugamo in front of them.  A chance encounter in Malaya sends Jean to Australia on her way home to England.  She's determined to see Alice Springs, the "bonza" town that Joe used to talk about.  That detour has quite an astounding effect on many, many lives, including Noel's.

This is one of the most satisfying stories I've read in a long, long time.  Mr. Shute says that this is the only one of his books that he based on an actual incident.  He borrowed the story of eighty Dutch women and children in Sumatra who endured two and a half years of marching around Sumatra because none of the Japanese wanted to be bothered with them.  By the time the war ended, there were fewer than thirty survivors.  Shute was fortunate in staying with one of the women and her family after the war and hearing of her experiences first hand, so Jean's story is based on fact.  You can find out more about this subject by following this link:  Women POWS in Sumatra - WWII


You can also see bits and pieces from various video versions on YouTube if you search "A Town Like Alice".  It really does bring the book to life, but as for me, I preferred reading it!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjWpm_OTPI