A Town Like Alice

A Town Like Alice (U.S. title: The Legacy) is a novel by the British author Nevil Shute about a young Englishwoman in Malaya during World War II and in outback Australia post-war.

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'.

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.