Touching Distance
In the year 1790, a deadly epidemic strikes the Scottish town of Aberdeen.
The victims, bafflingly, are all women in the prime of life. It falls to one man, a young physician named Alexander Gordon, newly arrived in Aberdeen with his wife and little girl, to save the lives of his patients. But this is a disease with no known cause, no known treatment and no known cure…..
Rebecca Abrams’ award-winning first novel, Touching Distance, is a tale of medical discovery, political corruption, and the agony of not being believed. Set against the backdrop of the Scottish Enlightenment, it draws the reader into a past age in which doctors and midwives are fighting for possession of women’s bodies; the world is in the grip of political and scientific turmoil, and a generation of young doctors are striding into new and controversial areas of knowledge.
“A book about the shockingly intimate, but it has an epic feel. Beautifully worked.”
HILARY MANTEL
Top 10 Historical Fiction Books (BookBag)
Shortlisted for the 2009 McKitterick Prize
Winner of the 2009 MJA Open Book Award for Fiction.
What the Critics Say
“A fascinating novel with sound research put to telling use. Evokes beautifully a revolutionary world - science and politics both in upheaval, the casualties strewn around…A book about the shockingly intimate, but it has an epic feel. Beautifully worked”.
HILARY MANTEL, author of Wolf Hall
“The most incredible novel. The way you showed the agony of discovery, in a shoal of red herrings, was remarkable. Every scientist should read it”.
MATT RIDLEY, author of The Red Queen
“Touching Distance is the kind of meticulous and measured writing conspicuously absent from so much of current output. Ms Abrams’ filtering of historical detail – always the story first – makes the tale shockingly immediate: her sense of humanity, and what drives those who serve it, is irresistible. In an age of trivial sex and gratuitous violence, to be reminded of the real facts of life in this haunting story is both timely and necessary. A mystery story, a love story, a historical drama - I can’t imagine a reader who would not be moved by this book”.
JANICE GALLOWAY
“A history lesson incorporating passion, mystery, skulduggery and a moving love story. Excellent”.
THE TIMES
“A vivid and moving window on a time when, like now, the world was spinning through enormous changes… Truly enjoyable”.
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
“I loved this book. A compelling medical mystery that brings 18th century Aberdeen bursting into life”.
ABERDEEN JOURNAL
What the Readers Say
“Beautifully told yet agonisingly vivid in its depiction of labor and childbirth in a time when the transmission of disease from victim to victim was not understood. Abrams explores the price that local physician Alex Gordon paid personally, professionally and emotionally as he dedicated himself to solving the mystery underlying the deaths of the women in his care. This is historical fiction at its finest”.
PATRICIA BRACEWELL, historical novelist
“A page-turning read that follows an 18th century doctor's attempts to understand an outbreak of puerperal fever in Aberdeen, and to treat its victims. He eventually reaches some understanding but his uncompromising attitudes and approach cost him dearly, both professionally and personally. Abrams has a delicate touch with language when describing place and her use of the local tongue in the dialogue adds to the atmosphere without becoming difficult to follow. It's a book that adds to historical fact by showing us the frustrations and the difficulties faced by our forbears due to a lack of scientific knowledge, and at the same time follows a doomed romance of the main characters. A fascinating insight, and while I don't want to pigeon-hole it, I'd say it's a 'must-read' for every midwife and doctor!”
MONTY, Amazon reviewer
“Abrams writing is wonderful - at times truly graphic, with vivid, toe-curling scenes. Abrams doesn’t shun the gritty, grimness of the birthing room of the time and yet, Touching Distance is written with tenderness for the endeavour. It is a remarkable story of a much unsung hero, not only in the medical profession, but in saving the lives of thousands and thousands of women”.
M WATKINSON, Amazon reviewer
Purchase
Touching Distance is available from bookshops or online purchase from Amazon in paperback, hardback and kindle editions.