Touchwood

By: Karin Kallmaker

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Twenty-nine-year-old Rayann Germaine, betrayed by her lover, flees in grief and rage. She meets book-store owner Louisa Thatcher, a woman many years her senior, who offers shelter and work...and soon, passion, and a loving place in her life.

But Rayann encounters challenges to this new love - from friends who question its wisdom, from her mother who disapproves of this liaison with a woman her own contemporary, from Louisa's son who learns for the first time his mother's true sexuality.

And there are profound differences between Rayann and Louisa themselves, two women who come from dramatically different places in the spectrum of age and life experience. Their only common ground seems to be the searing attraction that they both try to deny....

©1991 Karin Kallmaker (P)2021 Tantor

Read the book 30 years ago

I read this book around 30 years ago. I don’t usually read books twice but with the amazing Angela Dawe doing the narration, I had to get. The book reminded me of how far we’ve come and where I don’t want the big scary orange man lead us back to.

Ageless

I loved this story, it is truly ageless. So well written and Angela Dawe made this book come to life.

Very Good

I am reminded, of a more modern version, of Desert, of the Heart - a lesbian, romance classic. There is, also, just such a great, lesbian community, in this one, like in Painted Moon. Kallmaker wrote a good addition, to the May-December subgenre.

Wow!

I could listen to Angela Dawe for days! Perfect narration!!!
Karin Kallmaker is such a good emotion writer. Her stories are creative in a unique way to me. I wasn’t sure if I’d like this story, I’ll confess in part due to the age gap. But it worked. I loved the book and will likely listen to it again in the future.

My partners and my favourite lesbian novel.

This adaptation of Touchwood is really well read 10/10 would recommend to anyone looking for a romance.

Such feels

Crazy opening
Interesting middle
Delicious ending
Love is love no matter where we are in life

A classic so beautifully brought to life!

Ohhhh the nostalgia I felt listening to this wonderful classic! When I was a very young lesbian, the only way to find lesfic was by traveling to one of the gay and lesbian bookstores sprinkled throughout the United States. There wasn't the opportunity to go on Goodreads to read a review to determine if a book might be something you were interested in or order one on Amazon. In my case, I would drive four hours to enjoy a weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and couldn't wait to peruse the bookshelves of my favorite gay and lesbian bookstore to stock up on books that would have to sustain me until my next trip. The only thing to go by was the description on the back of the book or perhaps a recommendation of a bookshop employee. Each book was a unique treasure of representation that so rarely existed outside of those books.
One of the books I picked up then was Touchwood. It was my first experience with an age gap romance - and a significant one at that. At the time I was younger than Rayann so related to it from her perspective. Thirty years later, it's very interesting to revisit it more from the eyes of Louisa.
It really is a blast from the past in so many ways. Back when the hot new computer was a MacIntosh (not a Mac), that used floppy disks. When you could run a bookstore without a computer. Rayann, at age 29, is a lover of classic movies and refers to them often. Many young readers may not recognize those references unless they love classics themselves. Back when society was beginning to change for the better for gays and lesbians, but for those in Louisa's age group, theirs was a much different experience and spilled over into their current lives.
I say this so people will know what to expect and I hope younger lesbians will give this a read. In this case, listen. It's our "herstory." A snapshot of life in 1991. It reminds some of us and teaches others what it was like for those that came before us.
For those that didn't buy the 30th edition novel, I suggest you do because Karin's introductory thoughts looking back on the work are insightful. Additionally, there are restored scenes and passages that were cut from the original.
This verrrrry slow burn romance is honest, beautiful and yes - sexy.
As for the narration - wow. What a dream to have Angela Dawe narrate this book! When I heard her deep, nearly sultry Louisa voice, I almost slid off my chair. And I was THRILLED to hear her interpretation of a significant secondary character, Zoraida, who is Hispanic. One of the things that drives me insane is when there is a character in a novel who is Hispanic and the narrator can't pronounce the words that they speak in Spanish. Considering it's the second most commonly used language in the United States, you would think a narrator could work on getting that right. Dawe absolutely nails it. Every time I think I can't possibly admire her skills more than I do, she blows me away yet again. As the greatest ones do, she elevates the experience of this already wonderful book.
Is this book dated? Yes. Should that stop you from listening to it? No. It's a snapshot in time of those that came before us whose sacrifices and actions resulted in the freedoms and rights we have now. These stories matter. And as romances go, it's so very affecting and thought-provoking.

I Love Age Gap Romances

I listened to this a couple of times on Scribd, a place where I “audition “ books, and if I really love them, I will buy on Audible. This book is so well-written and covers the subject so well. It is a loving, sensitive, sensual story…and I just love it.

I loved this book

A look to the history of lesbians, in a very interesting way. I loved it, this is a very well written story, with interesting MC wi age gap, and narration is WOW

An Unlikely Pairing

Rayann Germaine comes home early to find her girlfriend with another woman. Fleeing to Oakland she meets Louise Thatcher who runs a book store and offers her a room for her help with her business. Louise is 59 and Rayann 29 but that doesn’t stop the feeling and passion growing between them. A great depiction of the differences between generations of lesbians and gays. Awesome narration.