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The Other Side of Paradise

noel barber

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When pioneering doctor Kit Masters is forced to flee England, he makes a new start on the South Sea island of Koraloona. Enchanted by the island and its people, Kit falls in love with the daughter of the island princess, and dreams of building a hospital. But all is under threat as war approaches.

406 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,1986

This edition

Format
406 pages, Hardcover
Published
January 1, 1987 by Macmillan Pub Co
ISBN
9780025068100
ASIN
0025068105
Language
English

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About the author

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noel barber

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 14 votes)
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14 reviews All reviews
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PrincessBubbline
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Just arrived from USA through BM.

This book is a sequence of several different events, starting from an alternative for polio treatment, kidnapping, World War II, plague disease and a volcano eruption.

A British doctor, Kit Masters is forced to leave his country and have a chance to demonstrate a new treatment for polio disease in the island of Koraloona (Marshall Islands).

He falls in love with Aleena, the princess of the island, who happens to be the daughter of Paul Gauguin while he was living in the South Pacific.

I would say this is a book of adventure and romance rather than historical fiction.

A TV series The Other Side of Paradise (TV 1992) was made based on this book.

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ZephyrSong
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book is three stories rolled into one! I love Noel Barber's writing and The Other Side of Paradise, set on a South Pacific island, encapsulates love, fear, island life, war and human relationships. A must-read.
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Milzol
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story evolved quickly and was gripped from early on. It kept me up at night because I didn't want to put it down.

I found myself invested in each character and some parts really pulled on the heartstrings.

A couple dry chapters towards the end which could've been shortened but as someone who doesn't read too often this is one of my favourites so far. An easy read.
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dreamnetic
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A somewhat disappointing trip down memory lane. Another book I read way back when, probably shortly after it was originally published. I recalled really enjoying it, so when I saw it on charity shop bookshelf, grabbed it with delight.

The storyline itself is OK - young doctor is ‘banished’ to South Seas island. Meets lots of interesting characters, gets to apply his theories on treating polio, experiences WW2, blah blah blah. However the writing is quite old-fashioned and formulaic. The romantic scenes are pretty painful, between Kit and Aleena especially. The whole book could also have done with a more critical editing re: length, losing about 20% without too much impact on storyline.

It’s enjoyable enough, but I wouldn’t seek it, or others by the author, out again.
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tropika
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I've read this book twice with some years in between. The fabulous opportunity if leaving England for a unknown south seas island was really on the cards for Dr Kit Masters. It was his impulsive behaviour in defending a elderly Jewish man being physically attacked in the street by 3 Black Shirts one of which he killed accidentally as he fell and hit his head on the pavement, although cleared in court the medical council at the hospital he worked in found he could no longer work for them. It was one of these board members who offered the job working for a mission hospital on Kooraloona. Kit never looked back marrying and raising a family he had everything he needed.
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SilverFalls
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Bella la storia, ma in certi punti troppo sdolcinata per i miei gusti.
Non è il mio genere, comunque.
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ParadoxCharlie
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A delightful book! Although it is fiction, much of it is based upon an actual island in the South Pacific, and what happened there, which provides added poignancy.
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