Touched [Paperback]

Carolyn Haines (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2004

The deep undercurrents of life in a small Southern town burst to the surface in this suspenseful tale of passion and prophecy. Sixteen-year-old Mattie comes to Jexville as a mail-order bride, and finds a quiet, deeply religious community so cautious that even dancing is frowned upon. Soon Mattie finds herself playing a part in a long-awaited, stunningly executed plan of revenge.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Deep South never gets any deeper than 1920s Jexville, Mississippi, of Carolyn Haines' novel Touched. Dirt poor Mattie is the arranged bride of the town's barber Elikah, who is prone to deliver vicious beatings to his young wife. When a little girl is struck by lightning at a party and not only survives, but seems to have attained the ability to predict the future, Jexville is turned on its ear. The townspeople believe that the child is probably in league with the devil and that she and her mother are a danger. Mattie befriends the pair, earning punishment at the hands of her husband before winning freedom for herself and her newfound friends. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Haines's fresh and suspenseful second novel (after Summer of the Redeemers) is set in 1926, in the "bleakly ugly" Bible-belt town of Jexville, Miss., where dancing is looked upon as a sin and women are expected to be docile and religious. Sold by her abusive stepfather into a marriage with a cruel and perverted man, 16-year-old Mattie Mills is isolated and lonely until she meets JoHanna McVay and her nine-year-old daughter, Duncan. Independent and assertive, JoHanna scandalizes the hypocritical community and is barely tolerated. When Duncan is hit by lightning after dancing, her survival and subsequent powers of clairvoyance are viewed as signs of the devil by the gossipy townsfolk. Anyone who associates with the McVays is vulnerable to the town's unreasonable fear and hatred. In addition to Mattie, whose marriage has deteriorated into violence and degradation, those who suffer the community's wrath include Floyd, a mildly retarded adult possessing "the trust and wonder of a child," and John Doggett, a writer who loves JoHanna. After a hurricane ravages the area, JoHanna, rightly believing that the superstitious townsfolk will blame her and Duncan for bringing it on, convinces the tightly knit, loving group of outcast friends to flee. Tension mounts to a high pitch as they are pursued and as Mattie and the McVays attempt to rescue Floyd and John, who are held prisoner by the vengeful community. Written with a languid sensuality, this rich and complex work features quirky, fully developed characters involved in an unpredictable story, with Mattie's long-awaited revenge providing a bittersweet but satisfying coda.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: River City Publishing (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579660061
• ISBN-13: 978-1579660062
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,250,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carolyn Haines is the author of eighteen novels, including the acclaimed Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series. She was honored with the prestigious 2009 Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence. Haines was also 2010 recipient of the Harper Lee Award. Born and raised in Mississippi, she now lives in Alabama on a farm with more dogs, cats, and horses than she can possibly keep track of!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intense, engrossing novel with wonderful characters., June 8, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Pasadena, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Touched (Paperback)

Touched is one of the most amazing books I have ever read! From the first page of this book I was drawn into Haines' mysterious, twisted Southern town of Jexville. A constant sense of tension pervades as the story unfolds, petal by petal, and the pages literally begin to turn themselves. The characters are wonderful, endearing people, and the intense relationships they share with one another are multi-dimensional. The twists and turns of the plot would cause me to freak out, then cry, then laugh, all in one chapter. This story gets under your skin in a way that will have you thinking about the characters while you are away from your book. I enjoyed Haines' other book, Summer of the Redeemers, but I thought that Touched was even better. In one word, "intense" best describes Touched. It has been three days since I finished reading it, and the world of Jexville is still in the forefront of my thoughts.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This novel simmers!, June 20, 2001

By 

Rebecca Bardwell (Santa Rosa Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Touched: A Novel (Hardcover)

Through Ms. Haines' descriptive powers, you can literally feel the heat of 1920's rural Mississippi in this exquisitely suspenseful tale. Racial tension and small-town suspicion simmer beneath supernatural overtones that hang over the tale like the humidity of the deep south.

This story is told from a feminie viewpoint, and I've walked the landscape of Carol Haines'"Jexville" through the memories of my own mother on many occassions. Born in southern Mississippi and raised in the deep south by a woman who lived that time and place, I found humour, insight, compassion, and courage in the characters, and a reality that is perhaps more palatable when wrapped in the threads of mystery and the supernatural.

I loved it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Was There, January 29, 2005

By 

Rosalie Tidwell Oliver (New Boston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Touched (Paperback)

Carolyn Haines' descriptions are so vivid and powerful that I felt I was walking on the road or actually sitting in the room with her characters. There were times the hairs on my arms just stood up or my heart was breaking with them. If Carolyn Haines was attempting to reveal the narrow mindness of people in small towns of the South, my opinion is She Nailed It. If she was trying to awaken compassion in her readers She Nailed It. Her characters took my heart. I am having flashbacks of times in her story and I am in the exact same spot with them I was while reading the book. I would recommend this as a wonderful read. It hurts but it certainly makes one think. I am so glad I read it. I believe it awakened a compassion in me which will remain a lifetime.