Author:Nevil Shute,Eric Lomax
'Probably more people have shed tears over the last page of A Town Like Alicethan about any other novel in the English language... remarkable' Guardian
Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins.
When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle - an experience that leads to the deaths of many.
Due to her courageous spirit and ability to speak Malay, Jean takes on the role of leader of the sorry gaggle of prisoners and many end up owing their lives to her indomitable spirit. While on the march, the group run into some Australian prisoners, one of whom, Joe Harman, helps them steal some food, and is horrifically punished by the Japanese as a result.
After the war, Jean tracks Joe down in Australia and together they begin to dream of surmounting the past and transforming his one-horse outback town into a thriving community like Alice Springs...
With an introduction by Eric Lomax, author of The Railway Man
This direct, simply told story is about honest, dogged virtues, at least as redolent of its era as street parties or 'We'll Meet Again'
—— The TimesA Town like Alice is the most romantic book I've ever read...Jean's determination to survive is inspirational, and the love she finds later is beautiful
—— Catherine Tate , Mail on SundayA ripping tale of budding romance and grace under pressure
—— The TimesA heart-rending tale of torture, human fortitude and forbearance, inhumanity and hardship
—— Sunday TimesThat supreme storyteller, Nevil Shute...I could hardly bear to put the book down. I read it voraciously for days
—— May Lovell , The TimesRemarkable books...I share a fierce personal regard for Nevil Shute
—— Richard BachA novel which, while aiming at popularity, respected its readership and was possessed of a decent level of craft
—— Philip Hensher , SpectatorRich's novel reads a little like a hybrid of The New York Trilogy and Up the Faraway Tree, with frequent appearances of wood sprites and other forest-dwelling creatures. The fantasy element develops throughout and Rich is at his most successful in the throes of it, building towards his mad denouement. Like with many debuts, there is a little too much going on, but it is original and intelligent, and Rich is an elegant writer with a great deal of promise. He is definitely one to watch
—— Francesca Segal , The ObserverHugely inventive and playful debut
—— EsquireImaginatively folkloric...the experience of sharing in its feverish tussling with ideas is consistently exuberant
—— The Los Angeles Times Book ReviewWhen Rich writes of his characters, their affections, their impulses and failings, he writes generously and movingly...Surprising friendships, small intimacies of fidelity and kindness, large gestures of joy: The Mayor's Tongue does all these so well, pointing the way to Nathaniel Rich's promise as a fiction writer
—— The New York Times Book ReviewThe Mayor's Tongue is a spare masterpiece of postmodernism, an incisive fable whose myriad threads of plot and thought take the inhibitions of our era to task and make Rich's first novel a New York Trilogy for the new millennium
—— The Boston GlobeThe sheer inventiveness is hard to resist
—— James Purdon , ObserverIntriguing debut
—— The TimesThere's plenty here to pull you in and, it must be said, I do really like the cover
—— meandmybigmouth BlogStories, generations and nationalities collide in what is an entertaining and superior novel
—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday
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