Product Description

Spanning nearly fifty years, from the 1860s through to the turn of the century, "The Touch" tells the story of Alexander Kinross, who flees from a childhood of poverty in Scotland to make his fortune in the Australian and the American gold fields. In the process, he meets the woman he loves but can never marry - and marries a woman who can never love him. When Alexander Kinross writes home to Scotland for a bride, he is remembered only as a shiftless young boilermaker's apprentice. Since he encloses a draft for one thousand pounds, however, arrangements are swiftly made to send him his young cousin Elizabeth, although it is her sister Jean whom he had wanted. So Elizabeth makes her way across the Atlantic by steam ship, and from there by sail, towards a land she knows nothing about, and a husband about whom she knows still less. Arriving in Sydney, she meets Alexander - handsome, devilish in appearance and manner, and obviously rich, and determined to get richer. He marries her, takes her home across the wild and barren countryside to his great house. What he does not tell her is that he made his first fortune in the California gold rush - and fell in love with perhaps the one woman he will ever truly love. Intermingling the stories of a rich cast of characters, and bringing the novel to a stunning climax as Alexander Kinross sacrifices himself for his wife's happiness, this latest novel is a stunning story of love and passion set against the harsh and brutal world of emerging modern Australia.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81341 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Review
"'Fast-moving and immensely readable... a page turner from start to finish' Maeve Binchy"

From the Publisher
A powerful, sweeping family saga in the grand tradition of the international bestseller THE THORN BIRDS - a story of tragedy, passion, hatred and love

About the Author
Colleen McCullough is the bestselling author of the record-breaking international bestseller The Thorn Birds as well as ten other novels. She lives on Norfolk Island in the Pacific with her husband.

Customer Reviews

Good but not that good
Another epic novel by Coleen McCullogh that has been well researched and has a gripping storyline - but it's not as good as the Thorn Birds - it lacks a certain something.

The Touch
This is only the second of Colleen McCullough's books that I have read - the first being The Thorn Birds. The Touch is every bit as good, but very different. It spans a number of years in the life of a Scottish mineowner in Australia, together with the lives of his very young wife, his mistress and several Chinese workers. The characterisations are excellent, I really felt I knew these people, and was interested in their lives. I knew nothing about goldmining or engineering, and there is a lot of detail of this. I have a few reservations about the reality of the mineowner's elder child's prowess with walking and talking as a baby, but other than this, I enjoyed the book very much, and found it very difficult to put down.

Disappointing book for Thorn Birds and Tim fans
A very disappointing read for Colleen McCullough fans who enjoyed the Thorn Birds or Tim. This book is as dull as a school history text book.