Margitte's Reviews > A Town Like Alice

I wanted to read this book for such a very long time. I don't know why. But finally it was done, and the tick on the Bucket List is happily added.

The story is based on a true story and therefore can be expected to be treated with utmost respect. Fact and fiction is entwined here in such a way that the distinction between tale and truth becomes impossible. However, the impact of the story is very real and very striking.

During WWII a group of English women were captured by the Japanese in the vicinity of Padang, and forced to wander around in Sumatra for two and a half years. In the real story, eighty women and children formed the initial group and less than thirty survived. The main character in this book, was one of them. In the novel however, the number of women who started out was 32 and end with something like 16.

Malaysia, instead of Sumatra, is the focal country in this story by the author's own admission and choice. The women and children obviously suffered an unimaginable ordeal which could only be stressed in a novel like this, written by a master storyteller. There was no prisoner camps for them set up and the Japanese did not want to take responsibility for them. Their solution was to send them all over the place, from town to town on foot, covering hundreds of miles, hoping to unofficially terminate their lives through exhaustion and starvation. It worked. The Japanese military leaders almost succeeded. Eventually, at the end of the war, the remaining members of the group were repatriated.

Six years after the war, our protagonist, Miss Jean Paget , the young unmarried leader of the group, decided to return to the Malaysian village who took care of them for three years, and repay them for their kindness. And then she had to find the Australian soldier who risked his life for them . She wanted to find closure, but also give back in her own way.

It is a shocking story. Heart-breaking with out a doubt. However, a love story was waiting in the wings. An amazing tale.

This is not a drama in the true sense of the word. I got the impression that the author wanted to honor a friend's life story by turning it into a novel.

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.

The geographical and historical detail in the book are impressive. In the end it becomes the story of a town being born when one woman explores the possibilities embedded in a remote Australian community. The story celebrates courage and endurance, integrity and strength of character. The narrator is her solicitor, Neal Strachan, who goes to great lengths to defend his client's courage and self confidence in a totally chauvinistic environment. The book was originally published in 1950. It must have stirred a few established social mores and values at the time.

I'm not sure where fact and fiction should split up. It doesn't really matter either. The author also spent a great part of the second half of the tale turning it into a travel journal. Well, sort of. The charm and uniqueness of the Australian outback as well as the beauty of Malaysia is presented in fascinating detail.

This was a good read in so many many ways.