Nevil Shute

This romance tells the story of a young English woman's holiday in the Australian outback just after World War II. There she meets an older doctor, a displaced person from Europe. Their friendship teaches them about themselves and their adopted home.

Australia is one of the last places where life still exists after nuclear war starts. Commander Dwight Towers and his Australian liason officer is sent to the coast of North America to discover whether a stray radio signal is a sign of life.

After the war Jean Paget comes into an inheritance that enables her to return to Malaya. Her return visit changes her life again, when she discovers that a soldier she thought had died has survived. She goes in search of him and finds romance.