#58 A Town Like Alice, by Nevil Shute (Vintage)

Well, well, well. Fifty-eight books in and we have something to really write home about. Well, a short blog at least.

I'd forgotten about Nevil Shute. Many years ago, I read On the Beach, a story about nuclear war and the dignified end of the world, and it had a great effect on me, so I'm not sure why I limited my own exposure to Shute's work to that one book. After reading A Town Like Alice, I regret it even more.

A Town Like Alice is a love story, but it's not your typical US rom-com. After all, the female lead, Jean Paget, is forced to hike hundreds of miles across Malaya by the Japanese army during the Second World War, while the leading man is crucified for stealing a chicken in an effort to help her.

That that part of the remarkable tale, based on the true story of a group of Dutch women and children in Sumatra (although there is some discrepancy about whether they walked or were transported from camp to camp), is just part of the story is where the books excels. Told from the perspective of an aged Scottish solicitor, who is appointed Paget’s trustee when she comes into some money, the story then switches to Australia, where she breathes new life into a dead town.

It's not without issues. In many ways, it's a book of its time and certain attitudes and terms - such as 'golliwogs' and the like - are authentic, if a little uncomfortable.

But the greatest thing about A Town Like Alice - and I'm a little surprised by how much of an effect this had on me - is its strong female voice and feminist theme, which came as a welcome antidote to a number of other books I’ve read this year which are primarily meant to appeal to women. Yes, I’m talking about you Twilight.

Throughout everything, the initial hardship and the suffering, and then Paget's crusade to improve things for womenfolk in the town where she ends up making her home, her desire to make things better for the women around her despite apparently insurmountable odds is incredibly inspiring. All that, and it's a love story too...

So, rating time:

#58 A Town Like Alice, by Nevil Shute (Vintage) - 10/10

Next up: Jeeves in the Offing, by PF Wodehouse (Arrow Books)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating