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Touching Distance
It is 1790. After ten years’ training in the great medical schools of Europe, Alec Gordon has returned to Scotland to take up the post of physician in the Aberdeen Dispensary. Alec has ambitious plans for modernizing medical practice in the town, starting with the local midwives, whose ignorance and old-fashioned methods appal him. But Alec’s dreams of progress are thrown into disarray when a mysterious disease suddenly strikes the town, attacking and killing every newly delivered mother for miles around. Alec alone recognizes it as childbed fever, a disease more deadly than the plague, a condition that has baffled the greatest physicians of the age, an illness with no known cause and no known cure. Desperate to save his patients’ lives, Alec sets out on an astonishing medical quest to conquer the disease. But while Alec struggles to find solutions that lie far in the future, his wife Elizabeth is increasingly lost in the past, prey to terrifying memories of her childhood in Antigua. As she knows and he will learn, some diseases lie beyond the reach of reason. Based on a true story, Touching Distance is a stunning historical novel that brings to life a fascinating period in world history, exploring the tragic limitations of knowledge and the deep-seated tension between reason and passion in the Age of Enlightenment.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 30, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 15, 2008
This is a remarkably crafted and finely balanced novel, which has both a vivid setting and an intensely personal tale. The author weaves the details of different threads of the personal lives of the main characters that bring Alec and Elizabeth Gordon to life within the world of 1790 Aberdeen. She captures the feel of life in a different time, without ever losing the details and depth of Alec and Elizabeth's lives. The novel effectively relates how time does not necessarily move in one direction, as childhood memories reappear at different points of the novel, in ways that illuminate the choices made by Alec and Elizabeth.
The world of Aberdeen is alive with the old traditions and the emergence of the Scottish (and wider) Enlightenment. Echoes of wider debates over science and belief quietly emerge through the novel. The cost of childbirth in illness or death of the mother was common (and still is in many countries, as the author notes in her post-script), and Alec's quest for the cause of maternal deaths puts him in conflict with established medical and midwife traditions.
The tension between Alec's dedication to his patients and his increasing distance from his wife echoes the painful life experience that often we end up fighting for something that is 'right' in a way that comes at a great price in other parts of our lives.
The world of Aberdeen is alive with the old traditions and the emergence of the Scottish (and wider) Enlightenment. Echoes of wider debates over science and belief quietly emerge through the novel. The cost of childbirth in illness or death of the mother was common (and still is in many countries, as the author notes in her post-script), and Alec's quest for the cause of maternal deaths puts him in conflict with established medical and midwife traditions.
The tension between Alec's dedication to his patients and his increasing distance from his wife echoes the painful life experience that often we end up fighting for something that is 'right' in a way that comes at a great price in other parts of our lives.
November 9, 2014
Rebecca Abrams’ novel is about an 18th century doctor’s efforts to turn ignorance into knowledge, and it is based on real events. It is absorbing reading – a story beautifully told yet agonizingly vivid in its depiction of labor and childbirth in a time when the transmission of disease from victim to victim was not understood. The underlying tension in the novel stems from the modern reader’s grasp of that connection even while that knowledge remains just out of the reach of the physician, Alex Gordon, who is frantically trying to make sense out of what is before his eyes. In addition to this struggle, Abrams explores the price that Alex Gordon paid personally, professionally and emotionally as he dedicated himself to solving the mystery underlying the deaths of the women in his care. This is historical fiction at its finest.
November 24, 2019
3 out of 5 stars
This is set at the year 1790 In Aberdeen, a time where medicine was still in its early stages and it centres around Alec Gordon who is a doctor doing all he can to work our what is causing an epidemic of a disease that’s killing mothers just after they give birth and his wife Elizabeth who is struggling with her past. There are some really gory parts when discussing the disease and labour which turned my stomach. I did have to put it into the context that the book needed them to be in. As a mother I found some bits very sad too. The writing of this was well done and descriptive but I got lost very easily and I wasn’t enthralled by it. Elizabeth’s story however was amazing and the way we flickered from the past to present was done in such a way that you were gripped. This is actually based on a true story which is both sad and important to know. The historical side of this book is very interesting but you will need a strong stomach to read this.
This is set at the year 1790 In Aberdeen, a time where medicine was still in its early stages and it centres around Alec Gordon who is a doctor doing all he can to work our what is causing an epidemic of a disease that’s killing mothers just after they give birth and his wife Elizabeth who is struggling with her past. There are some really gory parts when discussing the disease and labour which turned my stomach. I did have to put it into the context that the book needed them to be in. As a mother I found some bits very sad too. The writing of this was well done and descriptive but I got lost very easily and I wasn’t enthralled by it. Elizabeth’s story however was amazing and the way we flickered from the past to present was done in such a way that you were gripped. This is actually based on a true story which is both sad and important to know. The historical side of this book is very interesting but you will need a strong stomach to read this.
September 10, 2017
A moving story of science and loss in Aberdeen
Read
October 30, 2020A very interesting story, well written and atmospheric.
August 29, 2022
3.5 stars
September 12, 2021
I've just read this absorbing book about epidemics, reputation, fake news and anti-vaxxers.... but this one is set in 1790.
It is bleak and chill as the lives of these people, who lived in Scotland at the time. It is based on real events, real people.
The writing is exquisitely beautiful; a welcome contrast to the descriptions of living conditions and medical attention. Extremely well rounded, it touches on the changes of the age of enlightenment as well as slavery and mental health. It also made me incredibly grateful to live in a time when the majority of medical training focusses on how to cure various diseases, rather than trying to figure out exactly what they are.
It is bleak and chill as the lives of these people, who lived in Scotland at the time. It is based on real events, real people.
The writing is exquisitely beautiful; a welcome contrast to the descriptions of living conditions and medical attention. Extremely well rounded, it touches on the changes of the age of enlightenment as well as slavery and mental health. It also made me incredibly grateful to live in a time when the majority of medical training focusses on how to cure various diseases, rather than trying to figure out exactly what they are.
April 15, 2011
Summary: Talented young doctor Alec Gordon is mystified by a fever killing otherwise healthy new mothers. His methods to treat it are greeted with scepticism and are mostly unsuccessful. His accounts show that he is treating many more patients than can afford to pay for his services, and his colleagues at the hospital are not keen on his candour and lack of politics. At home, his wife is struggling with depression and flashbacks of her life in the West Indies. Based on a true story.
I know that the book is based on a true story, although you always have to wonder how much is “true story” and much is artistic licence… but the succession of deaths and the increasingly brutal methods attempting to save the mothers are shocking enough without knowing that it did actually happen! In the postscript, the author points out that the fever which was eventually discovered is still a major cause of death in less developed countries. As I found with The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, the historical aspect of medicine was fascinating – the ways which were accepted as best practice now seem almost barbaric.
I also thought that the demonstration of the social mix was an interesting idea and well-developed: the idea of a young doctor from a poor background, with a lawyer and a farmer for brothers, marrying into a once affluent family with sugar plantations in the West Indies; the settled politics and hostility to an outsider, particularly one who won’t play by the rules, etc.
I thought Alec Gordon was a bit too perfect and Elizabeth a bit too useless – in fact I found all the characters a little polarised, although Robbie was pleasantly well-rounded. Elizabeth had her own sub-story – her malaise at home, waiting for her husband to come back from house calls at the ends of the city, her detachment from her child – with which I didn’t have much patience. The marriage was depicted as very bitter, which seemed out of keeping with the two characters.
A pleasant and informative read, but not about to trouble literary prize committees.
I know that the book is based on a true story, although you always have to wonder how much is “true story” and much is artistic licence… but the succession of deaths and the increasingly brutal methods attempting to save the mothers are shocking enough without knowing that it did actually happen! In the postscript, the author points out that the fever which was eventually discovered is still a major cause of death in less developed countries. As I found with The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, the historical aspect of medicine was fascinating – the ways which were accepted as best practice now seem almost barbaric.
I also thought that the demonstration of the social mix was an interesting idea and well-developed: the idea of a young doctor from a poor background, with a lawyer and a farmer for brothers, marrying into a once affluent family with sugar plantations in the West Indies; the settled politics and hostility to an outsider, particularly one who won’t play by the rules, etc.
I thought Alec Gordon was a bit too perfect and Elizabeth a bit too useless – in fact I found all the characters a little polarised, although Robbie was pleasantly well-rounded. Elizabeth had her own sub-story – her malaise at home, waiting for her husband to come back from house calls at the ends of the city, her detachment from her child – with which I didn’t have much patience. The marriage was depicted as very bitter, which seemed out of keeping with the two characters.
A pleasant and informative read, but not about to trouble literary prize committees.
September 8, 2012
Took some getting into, partly because it kept ringing bells & I thought I might have read it before. But once I was into it I thought it was excellent. It's about a doctor in the 1700's who makes a study of womaen dying in an epidemic of puerpural fever (hope I spelt that right "childbed fever") He comes to the inescapable conclusion that it is spread by contact not by any magical or vaporous means & tries to speak out. Unfortunately the world is not ready for this news. The local medical profession just see themselves disgraced & unemployable if women see them as the cause of infection .... and the doctor is hounded out of his job, his home and eventually looses his wife & child & dies a broken man at the age of 44. It wasn't until over 100 years later that bacteria were 'discovered' & it was the 19th century before cross contamination was truly understood.
The book is based on the true story of DR Alexander Gordon.
I'm sure I read a book ages ago set in America where a doctor in 1800s (or a long time ago) is fighting an outbreak of puerpural fever & comes across a treatise written by an English doctor.
The book is based on the true story of DR Alexander Gordon.
I'm sure I read a book ages ago set in America where a doctor in 1800s (or a long time ago) is fighting an outbreak of puerpural fever & comes across a treatise written by an English doctor.
April 16, 2016
I really enjoyed this book - well written and researched, based on a true story of actual events in Aberdeen, Scotland around 1790. Excellent descriptions of what the city was like at the time, sounds,smells and sights. Uncovered a bit more about other elements of history that we're going on at that time too, making it feel more alive. Found the subject matter fascinating but the last few chapters felt to me a bit sentimentally indulgent. However I could understand that they were as much part of the story as the author letting go of the character form her life too.
August 21, 2020
A very interesting and sad book based on the life story of Alexander Gordon. I had no idea of the dreadful dangers of having children in the seventeenth century and indeed even up to the beginning of the twentieth century! The struggle of this man and personal sacrifice he made to try and overcome the ignorance of the midwives and even his fellow physicians was really sad. Thank goodness that eventually someone took heed of his findings.
October 5, 2020
A compelling story, based on fact, which follows the quest by a doctor, Alec Gordon, to discover the cause of an extended outbreak of puerperal fever which is killing newly delivered mothers. It follows the fortunes of his own marriage as well as his battle against the preconceived notions and vested medical interests of his time. Aberdeen of the 1790s is vividly recreated in language which lightly carries the Scottish idiom.
January 4, 2016
The third-person viewpoint was a bid awkward and I never felt very intrigued by the story. I enjoyed the mystery of figuring out why there was an outbreak of "childbed fever" and appreciated the historical research on that topic, but the rest of the book fell a bit flat and the ending had a bit of an odd "As you know, Bob" type of solution.
August 5, 2009
I enjoyed this book. Picked it up at a bookstore here in England after reading the description on the back cover. I liked that it was based off a true experience, and I thought the author did a nice job of portraying the struggles that the main character faced.
February 12, 2010
Based on true events, this book doesn't hold back on the medical details. If you are in the latter terms of pregnancy - I suggest you stay away from this book for now!
A very engaging read, a great medical mystery with all the human interest you could ask for.
A very engaging read, a great medical mystery with all the human interest you could ask for.
March 15, 2012
oh my - what a sad story (based on true story too!) very intense and disgusting pre - germ theorey gore. However it is quite fascinating and a celebration of the Drs determination for accurate medical knowledge based on evidence. Read if you don't mind descriptions of illness & suffering.
December 12, 2011
Nice idea for a story but for me, told the wrong way... I found it extremely boring and I didn't like the characters one bit :o(
June 12, 2012
Abrams first novel is forgettable and the plot is often confused. There are loose ends and the characters lack depth.
March 16, 2013
Took me a while to get into it, seemed to jump around a bit too much. However interesting story, incredible to consider how much medicine has changed over the past 200 odd years.
June 5, 2015
Brilliant book
December 22, 2013
A fascinating picture of life at the time that really brings home what it was like to live with primitive medical care.
April 21, 2015
Interesting, but found the West Indies stuff quite unnecessary and found the wife really annoying.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews