Review: No Highway

No Highway by Nevil Shute
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was really pleased to receive a Shute novel in a vintage book subscription package I've signed up to - Shute's A Town Like Alice was one of my favourite books as a teenager, so I was delighted to get the chance to read another of his books.

This is a great escapist read of the "little man" going up against major players in his bid to prove his theories about how "metal fatigue" might affect an aeroplane. Mr Honey is a complex oddball but a likeable character at the same time. Amusingly, he does seem to have no issues attracting women (I suspect this is wish fulfilment on Shute's part) despite being described as having the features of a toad.

The big issue with it is that it's a product of a its time. It's unbelieveable sexist. An underlying theme is that women are happiest being wives and looking after their men. So you do have to keep reminding yourself that it was written in 1948.

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