The Touch
Summary (from the publisher): Not since The Thorn Birds has Colleen McCullough written a novel of such broad appeal about a family and the Australian experience as The Touch. At its center is Alexander Kinross, remembered as a young man in his native Scotland only as a shiftless boilermaker's apprentice and a godless rebel. But when, years later, he writes from Australia to summon his bride, his Scottish relatives quickly realize that he has made a fortune in the gold fields and is now a man to be reckoned with.
Arriving in Sydney after a difficult voyage, the sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Drummond meets her husband-to-be and discovers to her dismay that he frightens and repels her. Offered no choice, she marries him and is whisked at once across a wild, uninhabited countryside to Alexander's own town, named Kinross after himself. In the crags above it lies the world's richest gold mine.
Isolated in Alexander's great house, with no company save Chinese servants, Elizabeth finds that the intimacies of marriage do not prompt her husband to enlighten her about his past life -- or even his present one. She has no idea that he still has a mistress, the sensual, tough, outspoken Ruby Costevan, whom Alexander has established in his town, nor that he has also made Ruby a partner in his company, rapidly expanding its interests far beyond gold. Ruby has a son, Lee, whose father is the head of the beleaguered Chinese community; the boy becomes dear to Alexander, who fosters his education as a gentleman.
Captured by the very different natures of Elizabeth and Ruby, Alexander resolves to have both of them. Why should he not? He has the fabled "Midas Touch" -- a combination of curiosity, boldness andintelligence that he applies to every situation, and which fails him only when it comes to these two women.
Although Ruby loves Alexander desperately, Elizabeth does not. Elizabeth bears him two daughters: the brilliant Nell, so much like her father; and the beautiful, haunting Anna, who is to present her father with a torment out of which for once he cannot buy his way. Thwarted in his desire for a son, Alexander turns to Ruby's boy as a possible heir to his empire, unaware that by keeping Lee with him, he is courting disaster.
The stories of the lives of Alexander, Elizabeth and Ruby are intermingled with those of a rich cast of characters, and, after many twists and turns, come to a stunning and shocking climax. Like The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough's new novel is at once a love story and a family saga, replete with tragedy, pathos, history and passion. As few other novelists can, she conveys a sense of place: the desperate need of her characters, men and women, rootless in a strange land, to create new beginnings.
Arriving in Sydney after a difficult voyage, the sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Drummond meets her husband-to-be and discovers to her dismay that he frightens and repels her. Offered no choice, she marries him and is whisked at once across a wild, uninhabited countryside to Alexander's own town, named Kinross after himself. In the crags above it lies the world's richest gold mine.
Isolated in Alexander's great house, with no company save Chinese servants, Elizabeth finds that the intimacies of marriage do not prompt her husband to enlighten her about his past life -- or even his present one. She has no idea that he still has a mistress, the sensual, tough, outspoken Ruby Costevan, whom Alexander has established in his town, nor that he has also made Ruby a partner in his company, rapidly expanding its interests far beyond gold. Ruby has a son, Lee, whose father is the head of the beleaguered Chinese community; the boy becomes dear to Alexander, who fosters his education as a gentleman.
Captured by the very different natures of Elizabeth and Ruby, Alexander resolves to have both of them. Why should he not? He has the fabled "Midas Touch" -- a combination of curiosity, boldness andintelligence that he applies to every situation, and which fails him only when it comes to these two women.
Although Ruby loves Alexander desperately, Elizabeth does not. Elizabeth bears him two daughters: the brilliant Nell, so much like her father; and the beautiful, haunting Anna, who is to present her father with a torment out of which for once he cannot buy his way. Thwarted in his desire for a son, Alexander turns to Ruby's boy as a possible heir to his empire, unaware that by keeping Lee with him, he is courting disaster.
The stories of the lives of Alexander, Elizabeth and Ruby are intermingled with those of a rich cast of characters, and, after many twists and turns, come to a stunning and shocking climax. Like The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough's new novel is at once a love story and a family saga, replete with tragedy, pathos, history and passion. As few other novelists can, she conveys a sense of place: the desperate need of her characters, men and women, rootless in a strange land, to create new beginnings.
Review: This novel opens in 1872 with Elizabeth, a teenager in Scotland living with her elderly and miserly father, who is informed that her cousin Alexander has written home for a wife. Elizabeth quickly learns after arriving that Alexander has made a fortune in Australia and despite loving the vivacious and bold Ruby, has decided he needs a respectable woman to give birth to his heirs. Sadly, it is soon evident that Elizabeth is incapable of loving Alexander, but still dutifully produces two daughters, Nell and Anna. Although Alexander is disappointed not to have a son, he soon sets his hopes on Ruby's half-Chinese son, Lee, who is being educated in England.
Although similar in setting and time period to The Thorn Birds, this novel failed to captivate me in the same way. The novel had a lot of promise at the beginning, which seemed squelched by the prompt end to possibility of love between Elizabeth and Alexander and the end to conflict between Ruby and Elizabeth by the two quickly becoming close friends. I didn't particularly care for many of the characters either. Elizabeth is stilted and cold - I never understood why she couldn't at least try to love Alexander or why at least some affection didn't develop for him after twenty years of marriage and a shared life together. Nell was obnoxious and difficult to like as well.
Furthermore, at times this novel was difficult to believe. For instance, Nell is shown as a twelve month old baby talking in full sentences and carrying on a analytical conversation. That's just not accurate. The whole plotline of their Chinese maidservant violently attacking a man out of revenge was gruesome and somewhat random, not to mention didn't need to happen for the plot to progress. Alexander's ability to grow fabulously wealthy wherever he went also seemed mythical. After his travels around the world he somehow manages to collect an astounding assortment of rare items, despite leaving home with just the clothes on his back: "The statue is second century B.C. Greek, the icons Byzantine, the rug has six hundred double knots of silk per square inch, the painting is a Giotto, the vases are mint-condition Ming, and the table screens - also in mint condition - are some dynasty of fifteen hundred years ago" (71).
Although at times exaggerated and almost mythical, this novel was at least entertaining and grand in scope. While not exactly the way he initially imagined it, Alexander was able to create a lasting dynasty to carry on the grand vision that he had for his home in Australia.
Stars: 3
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