Englishwoman Jean Paget unexpectedly inherits a large chunk of money. She decides to use part of it to help the Malayan village where she spent the last part of World War II. Her journey gets more interesting when she discovers that an Australian POW who helped her was not killed as she thought and may still be alive.
My thoughts
The romance at the heart of this book was sweet, sappy, and almost too good to be true. Jean met Joe very briefly during the war, when she was being led on a forced march through the Malayan countryside. He stole some chickens from a cruel Japanese soldier and gave them to Jean to help feed her and the other women and children on the march. When the Japanese soldiers discovered the chickens with her, Joe took the blame and Jean thought he was killed.
Her trek to find him touchingly coincides with his journey to find her. They finally do reunite and sparks fly. But there's a not insignificant obstacle to overcome before they can live happily ever after. Joe lives in the harsh Australian outback and he's not convinced Jean will like it. She solves this on her own by using a little more of her inheritance to become a successful entrepreneur, proving that she can hold her own. I loved Jean's character. She's resourceful, sassy, and tough. She's a very modern woman in a man's world.
On the other hand, the casual racism and paternalism directed at the Asian and Australian Aboriginal characters was difficult to read. I know it's a product of the times the book was set in and written in, but it kept me from truly enjoying the book.
The book is told from the point of view of Jean's lawyer, which was less than enjoyable and made the book drag. (It's a short book, but between the irrelevant lawyer's inner thoughts and the main characters' wanderings it could have been cut in half.)
Bottom line
It's a quick read, so it's worth a look.
Fine print
A Town Like Alice, by Nevil Shute
Genre: fiction
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from the library
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