This month's Vintage Fiction Read is a novel by the Australian author Nevil Shute about a young Englishwoman in Malaya during World War IIand in outback Australia. Written from the perspective of her Scottish solicitor and trustee, he tells her story of being a prisoner of war and her post-war life where she makes a discovery that leads her on the search for romance and to a small outback community in Australia, where she sets out to turn it into 'a town like Alice'. (the U.S. Publication was entitled: The Legacy)

It was first published in 1950 when Shute had newly settled in Australia. The "Alice" in the title refers to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.

You can obtain copies HERE at the Cornerstore. Look under Vintage Fiction and you can find the book both as A town like Alice as well as the U.S. printing The Legacy.

In 1956 it was made into a film starring Virginia McKenna and Peter Finch, directed by Jack Lee. This film was known as Rape of Malaya in U.S. cinemas

To watch the Movie in it's entirety, go HERE.