Works by
Nevil Shute
(Writer)
[January 17, 1899 - January 12, 1960]

Profile created July 23, 2009

Books

Biography/Memoirs

Fiction

See also

Biography/Memoirs

Fiction

Trustee from the Toolroom (1960)
Keith Stewart is an ordinary man. However, one day he is called upon to undertake an extraordinary task. When his sister's boat is wrecked in the Pacific, he becomes trustee for his little niece. In order to save her from destitution he has to embark on a 2,000 mile voyage in a small yacht in inhospitable waters. His adventures and the colorful characters he meets on his journey make this book a marvelous tale of courage and friendship.

The Rainbow and the Rose (1958)
Story of a seasoned pilot whose desperate crash-landing on the Tasmanian coast brings into play actions and emotions that span a lifetime. He is Johnnie Pascoe, a born flyer who has been piloting aircraft since 1916.

On the Beach (1957)
Following the war, a radioactive cloud begins to sweep southwards poisoning everything in its path. An American submarine captain is among the survivors left sheltering in Australia, preparing with the locals for the inevitable. Despite his memories of his wife, he becomes close to a young woman struggling to accept the harsh realities of their situation. Then a Morse code signal is picked up and the submarine must set sail through the bleak ocean to search for signs of life.

Beyond the Black Stump (1956)
If somewhere is 'beyond the black stump' it means it is in the deepest darkest wilds of the Australian outback. This is the sun-baked setting for Nevil Shute's novel of a romance that is tested by the differences between two young people's home lives. Stanton Laird is sent from his small town in America to work in a remote outpost in Western Australia. While out there he befriends the unconventional Regan family and falls in love with the daughter Mollie. However, when Mollie travels to America to visit him the couple realize that their differences in background make their plans for a future together hard to realize.

Requiem for a Wren (1955)
Alan Duncan returns to Australia after the war and several years of study in England. But his homecoming is marred by the mysterious suicide of his parents’ quiet and reliable parlour-maid. A search through her belongings in search of clues leads to heartbreaking revelations about the woman’s identity, the death of Alan’s brother Bill, and, above all, the disappearance of his brother’s fiancée. Also published under the title The Breaking Wave.

The Far Country (1952)
Jennifer Morton was 21 and from the moment she arrived in Australia ashe was captivated by the land's beauty and vitality. The setting is Australia and many of the characters the "new" Australians.
Movie (1986), George Miller, director with Michael York and Sigrid Thornton Search DVD, VHS

Round the Bend (1951)
When Tom Cutter hires Constantine Shaklin as an engineer in his air freight business, he little realises the extraordinary gifts of his new recruit. Shaklin possesses a religious power which inspires everyone he meets to a new faith and hope for humanity. As Cutter's business grows across Asia, so does Shaklin's fame, until he is widely regarded as a unifying deity. Though he struggles to believe Shaklin is indeed divine, Cutter too finds solace in his friend's teachings, and commits to passing on his message.

A Town Like Alice (1950)
Also published under the title The Legacy .
Movie (1956), Jack Lee, director with Peter Finch and Virginia McKenna Search DVD VHS

No Highway (1948)
Theodore Honey is a shy, inconspicuous aircraft engineer whose eccentric interests in quantum mechanics and spiritualism are frowned upon in aviation circles. But when a passenger plane crashes in unexplained circumstances, Honey must convince his superiors that his unorthodox theories are correct before more lives are lost.

Pied Piper (1942)
One man's thrilling rescue of seven abandoned children during the Nazi invasion of France in the fateful summer of 1940 is not only Shute at his most exciting it also 'warms and impresses the reader as only a story of courage and goodness can warm.

Ruined City (1938)
Through a series of mishaps, Henry Warren, a recently divorced City financier, ends up in hospital in a Northern town ruined by the closure of its shipyard. Moved by the fate of the town's inhabitants, Warren risks his fortune and reputation to save the shipyard and restore the town to its former prosperity. In seeking to change the fate of the town, he radically changes his own. Also published under the title Kindling.

Lonely Road (1932)
A rich middle-aged man finds his lonely life turned upside down when he falls in love with a pretty dance hostess and becomes involved in exposing a conspiracy to sabotage the British General Election. But his dogged pursuit of the criminals will throw his life and the lives of those he cares about into grave danger.

Marazan (1926)
After Philip Stenning is involved in a near-fatal plane crash, he feels he owes a debt of gratitude to the man who rescued him. However, his mysterious savior is an escaped convict, and his determination to help him leads Stenning into a tense and dramatic adventure of intrigue, drug-running and murder.

Stephen Morris and Pilotage (1923, published posthumously in 1961)
These two linked novels have flying as a shared theme. In Stephen Morris we see the eponymous hero leaving Oxford University unable to marry his girl because of a lack of prospects. He starts as a mechanic and a pilot at a friend’s aerodrome business. In Pilotage, Peter Dennison is to start as a junior partner at a firm in China. The woman he wishes to marry can’t accept his proposal if it means going to live in Hong Kong. Dennison has to find a way to make money and marry.

Works by Nevil Shute(Writer) [January 17, 1899 - January 12, 1960]