We all agreed that the book was an enjoyable page turning read and acknowledged that Shute can be considered a gifted storyteller. During the course of the discussion we began to unpick this book a little though, and some of us became a little less impressed. The interminable period spent by Jean in Australia seriously disrupted the more compelling narrative flow of the first half set in Malaysia, and some of us found Jean an impossibly perfect, virtuous character. Perhaps Shute’s prudish tendencies made her unrealistic? The only credible character was the continent of Australia itself; Shute’s love of this place was self-evident.

The casual racism and sexism bothered some people. Shute took these attitudes for granted and didn’t try to challenge them (despite the Civil Rights movement starting to stir in America at the time the book was published).

The group who discussed this book were entirely female at this particular meeting and we began to doubt Shute’s ability to write a believable female character. For instance we simply could not believe that Jean would be able to dismiss from her mind so easily the baby she brought up whilst trudging through Malaysia.

A relatively enjoyable read if you can skip the long-winded bits and overlook the racial slurs.

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