A Town Like Alice: A Book Review

I am not entirely sure how A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute made it onto my book radar. Maybe it was part of a recommended reading list (but which one?), or mentioned in another book, or I just saw it online somewhere. It's a bit of a mystery!

(Please note: the following two paragraphs contain spoilers, but nothing that you wouldn't see if you read the back of the book.)

The book was written in 1950 and encompasses World War II and a bit beyond. The main character is Jean Paget. She was living in Malaya at the start of the war, with several other women and some children, was forced into a 7-month death march around the island by the Japanese (side note: in the author's note, he says that it's based on an actual event in Sumatra during the war; it seems the Japanese didn't know how to (or want to) deal with a group of female and child prisoners and so kept sending them elsewhere). Eventually Jean and what is left of her group settle in a village for the remainder of the war. Once they are rescued, she goes back to England and tries to forget.

Of course, it's not that easy. There's an unexpected inheritance from a rich uncle, a return to Malaya to help the village who helped her, news that the Australian soldier who saved her life didn't die after all, a trip to Australia, and the challenges of outback life.

The story is good, and I really enjoyed it. I learned something about Malaya (now part of Malaysia) and Australia in the 1950s. The characters are complex enough to be interesting.

The most interesting part is that it's written in first person, but not from Jean's perspective. The story is told by Noel Strachan, the elderly lawyer who oversaw her uncle's estate. It starts with him telling us about his meeting with the uncle, and then his later meeting with Jean after the uncle dies. The uncle left the money in trust for Jean until she turns 35 (she's still in her 20s in the book), so Noel stays involved and gets quite interested in Jean's situation. We learn her history as she tells it to him. When she leaves for Australia, it is easy to forget that the lawyer is telling the story; she has been writing to him regularly so he feels he knows what it going on and he pops up occasionally as an advisor and in relation to the trust. It isn't until the end that it comes right back to him, and the book ends with the Noel talking.

So: Is it her story or his story? Maybe both. Either way, it is worth reading.

Remembrance Day

 

Christmas is Coming!

My mum has been asking for my Christmas list (although she started that in the summer, so that's not a really good indicator).

I have started planning the Christmas Concert. There will be an announcement in the bulletin on Sunday, but people have already been talking to me about their roles.

Most importantly: It's snowing properly outside! Not just a few flakes that barely reach the ground before melting, but a proper layer of snow. And yes, I know it won't last, but it's here right now.

So, one of my favourite Christmas songs for you:

October

October is a bit blurry. I had a LOT of meetings! Out of 44 families, I met with 28 of them. The good news is that November should be a bit quieter since there are only 16 meetings left.

I had some Spruce Grove meetings; these are some of my favourite because I set things up so I have time for lunch with a friend between meetings. It makes up most of my social life in October!

I had a birthday in October and now I'm closer to 100 than to my birth. I must be getting (or at least looking) old; young people have regularly been giving me a seat on crowded buses!

There was a bit of a glitch in October that led to me having to have difficult conversations with friends, both to confront sin and to sort out misunderstandings. The conversations went well and I'm a little proud of myself for having them rather than hoping things went away. Now there is nothing coming between us and our friendships are still strong.

The weather stayed pretty good all month. It's been chilly, especially in the mornings, but overall it's been manageable. I only had to go out one day when it was very windy and wet and chilly. The snow has held off so far. I'm hoping for a couple more weeks of no snow so I can finish at least the out-of-town visits.

I started helping with the 4-6 year old group for work's monthly parent support group. There are quite a number of them and it was crazy busy, but also fun. I'm (almost) looking forward to the November meeting.

It was a pretty good month taken altogether. I got a pile of my fall work meetings done, spent some time with friends, and basically enjoyed life.

For your watching entertainment

The 1930s were a different time....

Cooking

Cooking for one has challenges and benefits. The challenge is that I only know how to cook for 4-6 people, most recipes are for 4-6 people, and most ingredients come in large packages. The benefit is that I don't have to cook very often. I'm okay with leftovers and freezing meal-sized portions for later.

This is my busy time, so I have been cooking only on Wednesdays and Fridays, the two days that I'm home to cook. I realized, though, that my freezer is getting full, so now I'm only cooking on Wednesdays and eating leftovers from the freezer for part of the week.

I've been trying some different recipes. I have a subscription to a produce delivery service which means that I get a variety of fruits and vegetables each week. Today the box contained 3 baby bok choy, 4 apples, 2 pears, 2 bell peppers, 2 English cucumbers, a small container of tomatoes, 4 mandarins, a pomegranate, a head of lettuce, and an acorn squash. This is the box for one person and it's plenty for me. I still have onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a bit of celery from previous weeks!

The squash has been coming regularly lately. I don't generally like the texture of squash. Zucchini and spaghetti squash are fine; all others feel wrong. Lately I've been trying, though, to like the squash, with mixed results.

One week the squash was zucchini, and I made zucchini marinara and it was so very good.

There were two weeks of kabocha squash, which was new to me. I tried stuffed squash one week and it was okay. Then I tried maple roasted squash and nope. It still has that squash texture. I ate it because it was all nutritious and stuff, but I probably won't try it again.

Now we're at acorn squash. I roasted one, mashed it up, and made acorn squash muffins. That works for me, although I'm going to try a different recipe. The one I used seems a bit dry and could use some spices to add flavor. I also roasted the squash seeds with a little oil and salt, and they taste quite good.

I have one more acorn squash to figure out. Will I roast it? Bake it? Make it into soup? Make more muffins (although I have some squashed acorn squash in the freezer as well now). I have no idea!

Next week is ham and bok choy stir fry (I also bought a good sized ham at the beginning of October and have a lot of that in the freezer). 

After that....it depends on what the box brings!

Random Stuff

I have been so busy lately! Homeschool facilitating season has started and I've been in meetings for the past couple weeks. I like my job and I like my families and I still look forward to being done! Honestly, I have 9 incredibly busy weeks (and if I keep getting through the meetings at my current speed, I may even be done early), so I have no reason to complain.

Today I read two books to my little guys in the homeschool room. We didn't have enough time to read the third, so I told them the story very dramatically while showing them the pictures, and they seemed to enjoy that a lot.

On Saturday I tried making stuffed squash. The stuffing was good. I still don't like the texture of squash. I'm going to keep trying, though, because I keep getting squash in my veggie box.

I spent most of Thanksgiving Day reading. I was thankful for a quiet day to read!

The weather is getting colder and it's freezing most nights. Most of my flowers are dead, although the petunias seem determined to keep going. I moved the pot of tomato plants inside and they're still ripening on the vines.

I like fall. It's cooler and nice for walking. I do a lot of walking between buses and meetings and sometimes between meetings.

The next two days I have Fort Sask meetings. I like the people, but it takes forever (and 5 buses) to get there. I am thankful that after Friday I will be done with that journey until spring.

I have been listening to Symphony of Psalms on YouTube lately. I really, really enjoy them and listening to and singing the Psalms has been helping my heart.

There's not much of any excitement going on. Life is good.