The Touch

by Julie Myerson

Donna, a young woman whose spine has been twisted with a seemingly untreatable muscular condition since her teens, finds herself drawn unwillingly into contact with Frank Chapman, a self-proclaimed healer and maverick Christian, when she discovers him lying battered and abandoned on Clapham Common.

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Julie Myerson is the author of nine novels, including the internationally bestselling Something Might Happen, and three works of nonfiction. As a critic and columnist, she has written for many newspapers including The Guardian, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, and the New York Times.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not often that my first though when finishing a book is to ask the author what the hell she was thinking but ending it that way? I loved The Touch all the way to the last few pages. It's not that the ending is illogical, it's just that I thought... I don't know what I thought.

Love this:

'The smell floated out behind her when she walked past, clung to the air like the end of a shout.'

And this:

'Light was sucked from the room, flung into the garden, leaving her gasping in darkness. All life's expectations gone, everything under water.'

Myerson is a very talented writer. Her characters are fabulous. I particularly loved 3 yo Kitty, who stole so many scenes. I want to adopt her.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story and well written - the lives of 2 sisters irrevocably changed by helping a stranger with sinister intentions. Mad bible-bashing healer or psychotic murderer? You chose, jury out for me... Easy to read but builds atmosphere and tension really well. My 2nd Myerson read - better than the first (Out of Breath) and will read more :-)

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are very ambivalent stars. The writing is excellent and the plot great BUT the sex is way too graphic for my sensitive eyes (I'm good at skipping over) and the characters are hopelessly dysfunctional!! Kitty should have been eliminated permanently right off the bat - what an obnoxious child. In spite of all this the author writes a book that is impossible to put down!!