Nevil Shute’s most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the Malayan jungle during World War II to the rugged Australian outback.Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children. A few years after the war, Jean is back in England, the … England, the nightmare behind her. However, an unexpected inheritance inspires her to return to Malaya to give something back to the villagers who saved her life. But it turns out that they have a gift for her as well: the news that the young Australian soldier, Joe Harmon, who had risked his life to help the women, had miraculously survived. Jean’s search for Joe leads her to a desolate Australian outpost called Willstown, where she finds a challenge that will draw on all the resourcefulness and spirit that carried her through her war-time ordeals.
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Well drawn characters and great story.
A great classic I read every ten years. Keeps getting better and better.
It’s been years since I read this book, but I remember loving the story.
This is a story of perseverance during war and the possibilities that can come after. Highly recommended
Nevil Schute is a scary good author.
One of Nevil Shute’s best. I read this every couple of years because it makes me feel more optimistic about the world. People do survive terrible things and go on to make the world better. In the world now, it is nice to find anything to make us feel better about human nature.
Incredible read – – Nevil Shute is one of the all time best story tellers…
Be careful not to buy the abridged version that is on Amazon.
Have read this book multiple times.
I loved the movie A Town Like Alice, so I always wanted to read the book it was based on. This is a fictional/historical romance starting in WWII Asia and finishing in London and the outback of Australia. It’s based on a true historical incident of the war, though not set in the same country or with the same natiionalities of the original. It’s …
Final story about the last unmarried Dawson that was mentioned in previous books. Story set in Happy, Texas…a town that I knew. Particularly like this author’s spunky older women…they are quite entertaining!
Loved this book!!
Excellent characters and a very interesting story about World War II in another part of the world.
Although it wa written many years ago, it’s still a great tale.
Really enjoyed this book. Read it after seeing the television version. It’s a wonderful story of courage, determination, and the will to survive in a time of horrific tragedy-war. It’s also a heartwarming love story of two people who find each other some time after the war and the life they build. Really recommend.
I have forgotten what a magnificent writer Nevile Shute was. Reading this caused me to buy and re-read On the Beach and I intend to follow it with many of his others.
Read it many years ago and was so pleased to see it on kindle. Enjoyed it as much as I had when I first read it, 40 years ago.
Probably his best
This is one of my all time favorite books.
Great read for any age! Timeless.