30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A cut above, May 9, 2000
By A Customer
I read Touchwood and Watermark in reverse order. Watermark, Kallmaker's ninth novel, is writing of a very high level and it is really interesting to see the seeds of Kallmaker's talent in Touchwood, which I believe is her second book.
Touchwood is far more romance novel than Watermark, but it is far from simple. Sure we could have had the easy story of Rayann falling for a woman old enough to be her mother. May-December romance stories are almost cliche. But Kallmaker doesn't stop there.
Even though Touchwood is solely from Rayann's 29-year old point-of-view, we see Louisa's 56-year old character clearly. Louisa has done much in her life, survived the death of a partner, remained closeted for the benefit of her son. She was butch when mothers were supposed to be femme. When Louisa realizes she is falling in love with Rayann she holds herself back, feeling that she has no right to take the best years of Rayann's life, not when she's already had her share of love. In short, she doesn't deserve the love of a younger woman.
I was rooting as much for Louisa as I was for Rayann. Louisa had bought into the idea that an older woman just isn't worth as much as a younger one. Rayann changes that. Rayann does resist the love and has a passionate, but light-hearted, affair with Zoraida. Her own mother is not happy about Louisa and Rayann's affair when she discovers it, but soon realizes that she prefers Louisa to any of her daughter's previous lovers. Louisa respects her daughter, for starters. In the end, everyone just has to grow up.
Best of all, and erotically portrayed, is Rayann's discovery that for all her sex-positive youth she can hardly keep up with Louisa in bed.
When I finished Touchwood, having already read Watermark, I was uplifted. Touchwood gave me all the nuance of two women deeply in love and Watermark all the depth of character that made me want to give the books to straight people in my family to say "Our lives are just like yours, we love, we grieve, we survive." The two books together provide a range of expression and experience that I've yet to find in any other so-called "romance" novels.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unexpected depth and passion, August 27, 1998
By A Customer
I just finished reading this book and so much of it will be edged in my mind for a long time. It's a little longer than most Naiad Press books and every page made me fall in love with both these women. I wanted to be Rayann, young and ready to love with all my heart. I wanted to be Louisa, much older yet able to teach the younger woman about unexpected passion -- and receive some surprises herself. I wanted to find their bookstore and meet all the customers. I read this book because a friend absolutely refused to lend me her copy, saying she re-reads it too often to risk being without it. Now I understand why. It really touched me. I can tell that this is probably the author's earlier work because there were a few rough spots, but they were so easy to forgive with such exquisitely drawn characters and passionately detailed eroticism.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A True Classic!, July 16, 2005
This review is from: Touchwood (Paperback)
I read this novel quite a few years back and read it again
just recently. Karin never disappoints even the second time
around.
Katie P. Moore
Author Southern Heart
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
