A Town Like Alice: (Vintage Classics Shute Series)

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However, war has a way of causing the least favored bequests in wills to often be made. In this case World War Two left McFadden's estate to his least favored heir. It was up to Strachan to sort things out and carry out his client's last wishes.

The money Jean inherits does not come to her without complications, since her uncle did not believe women were capable of handling money. She will get an allowance until she is thirty-five, after which time she will inherit a sizeable sum. The book tells the story of what she does with the money and with the careful management and advice of the old solicitor (who becomes her best friend and admirer). The story takes place over a period of more than ten years, between Malaya, England and Australia, but is never dull. As time goes by, Jean’s courage and unexpected talents are revealed. DIVERSITY – radio drama – Moya O'Shea". www.suttonelms.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019 . Retrieved 3 February 2019. I managed to acquire easily most of Shute's titles over the years. This one took me longer. I have a feeling this book is a keeper for most people and that is why it rarely turns up in secondhand bookshops.Tenko (TV series) – a 1981–84 BBC and ABC TV series based on the female prisoners of war in Singapore during World War II During the last part of the book , I just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen to Jean or Joe . I'm so glad I was wrong . Having read the blurb on this novel I was really looking forward to reading this story as it was described as "Entertaining" and "Dramatic" but unfortunately for me I neither found the book Dramatic or entertaining and really could only be pushed to describing it as a pleasant read that is neither exciting or memorable.

Here is a book that I have always enjoyed and is probably a good representative of its time – which of course is no guarantee that you will find it easy to get through. At least I have worked out its appeal for me – it’s because it covered my ERA and I can understand the MORES & MORALS of the time. It was an enjoyable book, very easy reading, and had it's moments of sadness and amusement, but the story wasn't without some poorly conceived aspects. The romance was pretty lamely written, and contradictory they 'spent that day in a curious mixture of love-making and economic discussion' in one chapter, and then she apologies for 'making him wait until they are married', and as mentioned below, follows the conservative conventions in the town.There is nothing in this book to dislike unless you simply refuse to believe in the possibility of happy endings. They do happen, you know. Interestingly, this is what my grandmother (born 1931) had to say in the letter she sent me with the book:

Some free versions are better than others, please feel free to try these, but I cannot guarantee the quality. Themes include a woman’s place in society, entrepreneurship, and renewal of life after war. The attitudes of the period are in evidence in racial issues and gender roles; however, the author is attempting to show that these views are false. For example, Jean, being a woman, is assumed to be incompetent with money, but she proves to be an astute businesswoman. She also figures out a way to improve the lives of the women of the Malayan village that helped her group during the war.

Meanwhile, Joe has met a pilot who helped repatriate the women, from whom he learns that Jean survived the war and that she was never married. He travels to London to find her, using money won in the Golden Casket lottery. He finds his way to Strachan's office, but is told that she has gone travelling in the Far East. Disappointed, he gets drunk and is arrested, but is bailed out by Strachan. Without revealing Jean's actual whereabouts, Strachan persuades Joe to return home by ship and intimates that he may well receive a great surprise there. FINCH'S BIG CHANCE IN U.K. FILM". Sunday Times. Perth. 16 January 1955. p.38 . Retrieved 7 July 2012– via National Library of Australia. and that if a white man marries a non-white woman (or meta-white) we should feel sympathy and sorrow for his desperate state, A Town Like Alice (1980) – David Stevens – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019 . Retrieved 3 February 2019.

The story’s narrator is the elderly solicitor in charge of the trust fund. He becomes an important element of the story and a character you’re going to like! No more clues will I give here. Jean's story gradually unfolds as she tells of the terrible ordeal she suffered through on a death march in Malaya , at the hands of the Japanese during WW II . It is then that we discover that she has guts, heart and smarts . Australia's good showing at Cannes Film Festival". The Australian Women's Weekly. 23 May 1956. p.23 . Retrieved 17 May 2012– via National Library of Australia.

A TOWN LIKE ALICE, one of the most moving novels that I've ever had the privilege of reading, actually takes place in three connected segments. BUSH PREMIERE". The Australian Women's Weekly. 8 August 1956. p.33 . Retrieved 17 May 2012– via National Library of Australia. Some books I feel I have to give 5★, even if the book has some considerable flaws. For me, Auē was one such book. In comparison with the novels, "Garden of Evening Mist' , as well as "The Gift of Rain", authored by Tan Twang Eng, as well as numerous others, this tale softened the experiences of the prisoners considerably. Nevil Shute portrays the ground level Japanese troops as humane towards these wandering innocent victims of the war. It is probably one of the outstanding features in the tale. However, it is with this assumption of a guardianship that the book also shows its age and its outdated attitudes. And with respect to the generational differences, this may even be the point of the book (one of them), to show how attitudes towards women have changed, if only slightly (?) - Jean's uncle didn't believe an unmarried woman under 40 had sense enough to deal with money, her solicitor didn't share this attitude but still presided over the trust fund in a patronising manner, Jean herself didn't trust her ability (even tho she had already proven to be a very strong character) and it took encouragement for her to set up her own enterprise(s).