A Town Like Alice

"A Town Like Alice" — a novel in which love and war, adventure and travel intertwine, as well as a story of success. Based on real events, it is considered one of the best works of Nevil Shute. The book has been adapted into film several times and has made it onto the list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century according to the publishing house “Modern Library”.
The main character is Jean Paget, an Englishwoman with a difficult fate. She grew up in Malaya, ended up in a camp with the Japanese during World War II, and there she met the Australian prisoner of war Joe Harman. From him, she learned about a town called Alice Springs — a small island of civilization in the very heart of Australia.
Many years passed, and fate brought Jean to a small Australian settlement, whose local residents she loved so much that she decided to try to turn this place into a town like Alice.