The Touch

Each one of Colleen McCullough's is different, but well written. I enjoyed this along with her many other works.

Australian writer Colleen McCullough (author of the memorable "Thorn Birds") has crafted another epic novel sure to win hearts. Her characters are once again compelling drawn, and commendably intriguing. Voice performer Jenny Sterlin gives admirable voice to this century spanning story. Protagonist Alexander Drummond is a complex individual and larger than life (perfect for the big screen). Never having known his real father he runs away from his home in Scotland to escape his cruel step-father. He was only fifteen, little knowing that the hurts of his childhood would drive him to become one of the wealthiest men in the world. Just prior to his 30th birthday fate takes him to Sidney, Australia, when that country is experiencing a gold rush. He strikes it rich once again, and builds an opulent mansion atop a mountain. He has begun a torrid affair with the rough but beautiful Ruby Costevan, madam of a local brothel. This is a woman Alexander deeply loves but knows he can never marry. Instead he dispatches a sum of money to one of his uncles in Scotland, asking that the man send a daughter in return. Enter young, lovely and obedient Elizabeth whom he quickly marries. It's a union bound to fail, bring only unhappiness to both and bearing heavily upon their offspring as well as Ruby's son. Colleen McCullough once again proves just what an extraordinary writer she is with "The Touch," a story all will be drawn into and few will forget. - Gail Cooke

Colleen McCullough's saga "The Touch" traces the adventures of Alexander Kinross as he leaves Scotland to make his fortune. Alexander travels to California during the end of the nineteenth century gold rush and earns a small fortune. He returns to Scotland to find a `suitable' wife only to be rebuffed by one of the same men who forced him to leave. A restless man by nature, Alexander sets out again to retrace the steps of his namesake, Alexander the Great, believing that this will somehow empower Alexander Kinross with his own greatness. Eventually his travels lead him to Australia where mining is just starting to flourish. Here he establishes an extremely profitable goldmine and himself as the great man he believes he is. Yet Alexander is still tormented by his heritage and those that spurned him for it. He sends again to Scotland for a wife and this time sent a `proper', young bride.However, Alexander's wife, Elizabeth, has to contend with the life Alexander has already built in Australia. A life which includes Alexander's mistress and her son as well as Alexander's obsession with his heritage and unquenched desire for a male heir. Alexander continues to amass wealth at an unfathomable rate for he has `the touch' - the golden touch of his more apt namesake, Midas. But, like Midas, his touch when it comes to personal affairs is less than golden. This beautiful and sometimes heart wrenching love story is told with a great flourish of detail and emotional insight. Just as in her famous novel "The Thorn Birds", McCullough manages to bring passion to history and create a truly fascinating work.

This story I thought was very well-written! Elizabeth Drummond is a sixteen-year old who is forced to marry a man she doesn't want to after a difficult voyage. To her, Alexander Kinross absolutely repulses her and reminds her of the devil himself. Isolated, and lonely in Alexander's great house, with no company other than the Chinese servants, Elizabeth can hardly stand the intimacies of marriage as well. Alex is a very secretive man, and doesn't tell Alex anything about his past life, much less his present one either. He is carrying on an affair, with his mistress as well. The mistress is the tough outspoken Ruby Costevan. Ruby has a son Lee, whose father is the head of the Chinese community; the boy becomes dear to Alexander, who fosters his education as a gentleman.Captured by the radically different natures of Elizabeth and Ruby, Alex wants to have both of them. But of course, he does not have the love of Elizabeth. Elizabeth bore Alex two daughters, one of whom is mentally challenged, and the other a superior intellect. The story alone of these two girls is interesting, and is tragic at once with what will happen to Anna, the retarded one.I enjoyed the book and don't understand the bad reviews. It isn't exactly fully passionate, but is a wonderful family story and tells of the trials and tribulations with each of them.

I was so excited to hear of this book as I am an enormous fan of Colleen McCullough's Australian epics ("The Thorn Birds", "Morgan's Run") and other non-Caesarean works (although I like historical fiction in general I could just never get excited about the Caesar series). On the rare occasions that McCullough publishes a non-Caesarean book it is very much a book "event" for me. As expected, I really enjoyed this. McCullough continues her tradition of impeccable historical research and gifted storytelling plus the plot is great and well-thought out. Basically the story is about the various rather complicated relationships between a group of highly likable characters that you can really care about, all taking place at a very interesting time in history (late 19th century). I personally don't want to give anymore than that away in case, like me, you don't want to know exactly what to expect as you read (for instance, I usually don't read flyleafs). However, I believe the reviewer immediately below me did a great job of laying it out in a bit more detail if you're interested in knowing more about the plot before you buy the book.Although this isn't my favorite of her books (I like "The Thorn Birds" and "Morgan's Run" better), I still feel this book stands head and shoulders above the majority of the historical epics out there (well, I also adore "Gone with the Wind" and "Through a Glass Darkly"). So if you enjoyed her previous books, Caesar related or not, or any of the other books I've mentioned, I think you will definitely like this as well. Of course, if you haven't ever read "The Thorn Birds" or "Morgan's Run" you may want to pick one or both of those up first - they're really fantastic.