Touch by Alexi Zentner

Touch

Adult New Fiction Zentner

“Touch” by Alexi Zentner is a novel about Stephen, a clergyman who has returned to his hometown of Sawgamet, a secluded town in Northern Canada, for the death of his mother. In the days before his mother’s death, Stephen recalls the stories of his Grandfather, Jeannot, and his father, Pierre. Stephen recalls the mysticism and magic his father and Grandfather believed in but he, as a Christian, has a hard time understanding. Through the discovery of Stephen's tragic loss of his sister, Marie, and father, Pierre in his childhood, we see the harsh conditions the townspeople faced during the harsh Canadian winters. This loss, combined with the stories of the gold rush, flourishes in Jeannot's embellishments of how he and a dog who loses his bark, come to Sawgamet and build a thriving logging town.

Zentner does a lovely job of fusing magical realism with the everyday life of the loggers. Life in the town is hard and it is easy to understand how in the dark by candlelight one believes there are voices in the wind calling. With sparkling details about encounters with magical creatures as well as a vivid description of one particularly smelly ghost,“Touch” keeps you wondering what the conclusion to its many stories will be. Why is Jeannot so convinced he can bring his dead wife back from the dead? Why is Jeannot haunted by a dead man’s bones? And, what is the real secret of the Sawgamet woods? These questions, and more, are elegantly told by Stephen who recounts how his Grandfather, father, and stepfather all have imparted their history to him as both a child and a man.

“Touch” is a lovely debut novel that will haunt you days after you read it. It is the perfect short novel to get you through a rainy day. The stories of Stephen’s father and Grandfather are told in an eerie and intimate way that makes the reader feel a little sad they are not true but very glad they were written by Zentner’s skilled hand.