The Touch

This mostly good books is structurally sound but there is some yellowing though it isn't too bad and it doesn't really affect the reading experience. 

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Not since "The Thorn Birds" has Colleen McCullough crafted a novel with such broad appeal, centering on family dynamics and the Australian experience, as in "The Touch." The story revolves around Alexander Kinross, once a shiftless boilermaker's apprentice and rebellious youth in Scotland, now a self-made tycoon from the Australian gold fields. When he summons his bride, Elizabeth Drummond, from Scotland, she arrives in Sydney to discover her new husband is a man of immense wealth and power but one who frightens and repels her.

Forced into marriage, Elizabeth is taken across the wild, untamed countryside to Kinross, the town Alexander built around the world's richest gold mine. Isolated in her husband's grand house with only Chinese servants for company, Elizabeth finds Alexander to be a man of many secrets, still entangled with his mistress, Ruby Costevan. Ruby, an outspoken and tough woman, has a son, Lee, whom Alexander adores and educates as a gentleman, seeing in him a potential heir.

Caught between the contrasting personalities of Elizabeth and Ruby, Alexander uses his "Midas Touch" – his blend of curiosity, boldness, and intelligence – to navigate his complicated personal life. However, his touch fails him when it comes to matters of the heart. Elizabeth, who bears him two daughters, Nell and Anna, does not love him. While Ruby's desperate love for Alexander and Elizabeth's indifference create a tumultuous household, Alexander's desire for a son leads him to focus on Ruby's son, Lee, unwittingly courting disaster.

The lives of Alexander, Elizabeth, and Ruby intertwine with a rich cast of characters, leading to a dramatic and shocking climax. Like "The Thorn Birds," McCullough's novel is a love story and a family saga filled with tragedy, pathos, history, and passion. It vividly portrays the struggles and triumphs of characters seeking new beginnings in a strange land.