Book description
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ERIC LOMAX
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...
Nevil Shute Norway was born on 17 January 1899 in Ealing, London.
After attending the Dragon School and Shrewsbury School, he studied
Engineering Science at Balliol College, Oxford. He worked as an
aeronautical engineer and published his first novel,
Marazan
, in 1926. In 1931 he married Frances Mary Heaton and they went on to
have two daughters. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Navy
Volunteer Reserve where he worked on developing secret weapons. After
the war he continued to write and settled in Australia where he lived
until his death on 12 January 1960. His most celebrated novels include
Pied Piper
(1942),
No Highway
(1948),
A Town Like Alice
(1950) and
On the Beach
(1957).
