Touch: A Novel

by Olaf Olafsson

A mesmerizing, panoramic story of one man's search to find a lover who suddenly disappeared decades before

When the pandemic hits, Kristofer is forced to shutter his successful restaurant in Reykjavik, sending him into a spiral of uncertainty, even as his memory seems to be failing. But an uncanny bolt from the blue--a message from Miko Nakamura, a woman whom he'd known in the sixties when they were students in London--both inspires and rattles him, as he is drawn inexorably back into a love story that has marked him for life. Even as the pandemic upends his world, Kristofer finds himself pulled toward an answer to the mystery of Miko's sudden departure decades before, compelling him to travel to London and Japan as the virus threatens to shut everything down.

A heart-wrenching love story and an absorbing mystery, Touch delves into the secrets of the past to explore the hidden lives that we all possess, the pain and beauty of our past loves and friendships that continue to leave their mark on us. Searching and lyrically rendered by acclaimed author Olaf Olafsson, Touch is a stunning tribute to the weight of history and the complexities of the human heart.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Japan, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Kindle Edition

First published November 29, 2020

About the author

Olaf Olafsson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1962. He studied physics as a Wien Scholar at Brandeis University. He is the author of three previous novels, The Journey Home, Absolution and Walking Into the Night, and a story collection, Valentines. His books have been published to critical acclaim in more than twenty languages. He is the recipient of the O. Henry Award and the Icelandic Literary Award, was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor Prize, and has twice been nominated for the IMPAC Award. He is the Executive Vice President of Time Warner and he lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
http://www.facebook.com/olafsson.author

Reviews

[Jola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classy, old-school love story, told so subtly and elegantly that I kept turning a blind eye to some melodramatic vibes and cliches, which normally would have annoyed me, and to the fact that the narrator's emotions were a bit sugar-coated. On the one hand, I loved Kristófer's calm while reconnecting with his past. On the other, a sheer lack of anger or hard feelings for fifty years surprised me, given the depth of his infatuation and what happened — or rather did not happen — next. If only grieving was as esthetic as depicted in Touch... Touch? It felt more like a delicate brushstroke.

I am grateful to Olaf Olafsson for revealing some enlightening details of Hiroshima survivors, called the hibakusha. I was devastated to find out that they were discriminated and their radiation sickness was regarded as contagious. They had to deal not only with the trauma and serious health problems but also with ostracism, fear and hostility as if they were scary aliens. There is some analogy between their situation and our initial reactions to coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic. By the way, Touch is the first book with covid in the background I have ever read. And speaking of the setting, do not expect to learn a lot about Iceland from Touch, as the novel is set mainly in England and Japan.

Besides, I enjoyed the fragments on Japanese literature, especially the haikus Kristófer and Takashi-san used to write. The novel itself resembles a Japanese poem, with its minimalistic charm and serenity. Thanks to Vesna and her excellent review of a Japanese poetry collection, I came across a tanka by Kakinomoto Hitomaro (662-710 BC) which is a quintessence of Touch:
Your hair has turned white
While your heart stayed
Knotted against me.
I shall never
Loosen it now.

I also liked the evocative descriptions of luminosity, darkness and shadows, the way they seep into each other. They reminded me of the passages on dapple light in Virginia Woolf's The Years . Olafsson invites us to contemplate murk and brightness: Nature has its way, and in the stillness of night, the moon shines on ebony hair, leaving behind a silver thread that glitters in memory decades later.


Fujishima Takeji, Lady with Morning Glories, 1904.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple eloquence….quite sad — thoughtful— touching — and unforgettable….
a slim beautiful novel … only 240 pages ….

A Lost love story….
Kristofer Hannesson — 74 lives in Reykjavik — receives a Facebook message from Mike Nakamura - a Japanese woman he fell in love with during the sixties while in London.
Mike was a survivor of Hiroshima— but now has covid.

There is a mystery of sorts of what happened fifty years ago when Mike had suddenly vanished from Kristofer’s life as she did when they had been at University together …
And why ‘now’ was she contacting Kristofer…

We spend time with Kristofer’s inner thoughts…
….we feel his loneliness- as we contemplate the memories he recalls …

Kristofer lost his wife due to an illness - has a strained relationship with his stepdaughter- a complex relationship with a brother… and lost a friend recently.

Kristofer ran a successful restaurant-which he closed in order to travel to Japan…
✈️
But we worry — the pandemic is at the forefront of life —
and we feel the tension— what will happen when and if Kristofer and Mike meet again after so many years have passed?

A beautiful touching ending left me pondering a few of my own past memories and how they influenced my present life.

Touch …. is …..touching!!!

I look forward to reading other missed books by Olaf Olafsson

[Ruben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't planned to read this Icelandic novel so soon (it only comes out in August 2022) but after peeking at the first few pages I just couldn't stop. The structure of many short 4-5 page chapters makes you cannot put it away.

Set in the early days of the pandemic, 75-year old Kristofer decides it's a good time to retire and close his Reykjavik restaurant for good. As he makes his preparations, his Japanese ex-girlfriend and first great love Miko, whom he hasn't heard from in 50 years, writes him a message on Facebook. He decides to visit her in Japan and while he travels through a world that is gradually locking down he recalls what happened back when he and Miko were students in London in 1969.

The novel is Scandinavian in its quiet, sober tone, but not at all uneventful in terms of plot. Per Petterson came to mind. Themes include: dementia, stepfatherhood, Japanese food, first love, the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. It is certainly not a covid-novel. In the background there is the constant tension of what happened and whether the two will meet again. I hadn't heard of Olaf Olafsson before but he is clearly and excellent and experienced author who knows how to build up a story and draw realistic characters. I thought the main character was particularly well-done, even though as readers we are not sure he is reliable given he has been diagnosed with dementia.

Great discovery and many thanks to HarperCollins for the ARC!

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this author's last novel, The Sacrament. Both stories follow a similar format with flashbacks over past time periods. Throughout the novel, the narrator, Kristófer Hannesson reminisces about an event in his life when he had a brief love affair with Miko, a Japanese woman who disappeared suddenly 50 years ago.

I love this kind of writing...nuanced and with spare prose. However, I listened to an audio, and the first person narration with alternating past and present timelines was a challenge in that format.
-3.5 Stars-

[Helga چـو ایـران نباشد تن من مـباد · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

The stars do flicker
yet in my heaven your eyes
shine brightest of all.

It all begins when he receives a friend request and a message on Facebook from an old lover.

“Are you the Kristófer Hannesson who lived in London in 1969?”

It is the early days of the pandemic and his restaurant is not doing well, so he decides to close it for good and travel to Japan to find the woman he fell in love with in the 60s.

Unfortunately, I didn’t care for any of the characters and the narrator’s inner thoughts and reminiscences were lackluster and uninspiring.
I was as much interested in reading about the narrator’s past as a stranger would be excited to read my dreary memoir.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more I read, the deeper I was involved. Touch, yes, touched me on a deep level. 75-year-old restaurateur Kristofer who finds his memory is failing wakes during the early days of the pandemic to a facebook message from the woman who never left his heart over fifty years ago. While he has trouble recounting his starter menus, part of his daily memory exercise, his memories of 1969 are crystal clear, and he soon finds himself flying to Japan. What follows is a totally involving exploration of memory, love, determination, and, told in alternating chapters, an answer to a mystery that has haunted Kristofer for all that time.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set during the initial days of the recent pandemic, Kristófer, a seventy-five-year-old widower living in Iceland closes his restaurant and goes off in search of his first love, Miko, a Japanese-British woman he has not seen in fifty years. The narrative follows his journey to London and Hiroshima, mentioning the travel restrictions, masks, and new pandemic-related customs (remember putting stuffed animals in the windows for the children walking by?) As the story progresses, the reader becomes aware that Kristófer may not be the most reliable narrator, not due to deception but to difficulties in recalling the past. His doctor believes he may have a condition that is causing his memory to deteriorate.

The author writes in an elegant, yet understated manner. We get to know the protagonist in two stages of life – his youth when in love with Miko, and his later life as he travels to attempt to reconnect with her. They had kept their relationship a secret from her father, and Miko and her father had disappeared suddenly for reasons unknown to Kristófer.

The primary theme is memory, loss of it, gaps in it, and how people remember the same events differently. The narrative is driven by the quest to find Miko and the unveiling of the reason behind her sudden disappearance all those years ago. The tone is wistful. It is not for anyone looking for “action.” It is for those who like quiet novels with emphasis on deeply drawn believable characters and their thoughts.

[Aly Lauck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much. It reminded me a bit of Haruki Murakami’s writing. Such a beautiful story, and tragic in parts. Learning about the Icelandic author was fascinating to me too. Looking forward to reading more of his work in the future.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read a lot of wonderful books this year but this book has to be the best of them. Unforgettable.

[Krodì80 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questa storia si svolge fra l’Islanda e il Giappone, con una “sosta” importante a Londra, dove le giovani vite di Kristofér e Miko si intrecciano per la prima volta e poi, a distanza di cinquant’anni, si ritrovano in terra nipponica. Nel mezzo, la vita, nuove relazioni, scelte (ripieghi?) e compromessi. E infine arrivano le svolte inaspettate. Una lettura delicata, ma non per questo meno profonda, che affascina con discrezione.

[Jodi]

DNF'd @ 55% - It's been such a chore to read as it's extremely boring! Reading should be a pleasure and this is anything BUT! I think it'll pick up eventually, but since it hasn't "grabbed" me yet I just don't have the desire to keep at it.

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this delicate book that has memory at the center - what Kristofer, 75, an Icelandic restauranteur remembers most keenly about his life, what he fears forgetting, the journey he decides to take without knowing whether his past and present might ever meet. Set in the early days of COVID and moving from Iceland to London, where Kristofer was briefly a university student before becoming a dishwasher at a Japanese restaurant, then onto Japan, a beautiful meditation on life, missed chances, the mysteries that give rise to how a life has gone, may go, and how, perhaps, it is never too late. And though not primarily set in Iceland, I read this novel while in Iceland last week.

[Adriana Consalvo · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOTTO LA PIOGGIA GENTILE (immagine con Canva )
A volte i cambiamenti possono spiazzare, grandi o piccoli che siano. Prendere una decisione è sempre difficile. Spesso cambiare destabilizza perché, in anteprima, non si sa mai se il cambiamento sarà positivo. Non è quello che accade al protagonista di questo romanzo, il quale, pur non essendo giovane, prende una decisione importante che scoprirete se leggerete il romanzo.
Con uno stile scorrevole e semplice l'autore ci racconta una storia originale, la storia di Kristòfer, tra Londra, memorie d'Islanda e "ritagli" di Giappone.
Kristòfer, non più giovane, deve tener viva la memoria, la allena quotidianamente. In essa conserva sensazioni, sguardi, emozioni. Le colleziona in un album mentale, per non perderle, per non perdersi nella fragilità degli eventi che ne compromettono la stabilità emotiva. Miko è la ragazza di cui si innamora.
Chi non porta con sé un grande amore ovunque? Nei silenzi dell'alba, i più veri. Chi non ha nostalgia di qualcosa che è sfuggito, che è scomparso, che si è perso? La memoria è un abbraccio che riscalda ancora, nonostante la distanza, nonostante gli anni trascorsi in un'assenza inspiegabile, mai riempita da nulla. Sopravvive, è un richiamo importante e chiaro.
I temi di questo libro sono notevoli e sempre attuali: la ricerca di spazi e luoghi che non emarginino, sentirsi " inclusi" in una società che molto spesso esclude, perché ogni vita è unica e ha un motivo per esistere. L'esclusione è ignoranza; la discriminazione e il pregiudizio non sono sintomi di progresso, è regresso che non giova all'essere umano. È un tornare indietro.. Ho trovato tanta umanità in queste pagine delicate e forti allo stesso tempo e non soltanto..in uno sfondo storico che ha segnato l'umanità con un evento devastante con conseguenze anche sulle generazioni successive, pregiudizio e paura hanno cambiato molte vite. Ma resta la consapevolezza che un'esistenza non è mai banale e vale la pena viverla fino in fondo perché.. non si sa mai..
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Pétur Marteinn Urbancic Tómasson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vel skrifuð en náði mér ekkert sérstaklega, stundum er það bara þannig. 2,5 stjörnur.

[Wyndy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a brief but intense love affair and the fallout that results when it ends - abruptly and unexpectedly. But does it truly end? Kristófer Hannesson of Iceland and Miko Takahashi of Japan meet in 1960’s London in their early 20’s at a restaurant owned and run by Miko’s father, but the novel opens with 75-year-old Kristófer shuttering his Reykjavik restaurant at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The story then moves a bit jerkily back and forth in time over fifty years. There is a tense melancholy and dreamlike quality throughout this book so the short chapters and 220-page length worked quite well for me.

One of my criteria when rating a book is whether it has staying power. Will I remember this story a week, a month, a year from now? Without fail, I still remember vivid details from each of my 5-star reads to-date, and while I doubt Touch will stay with me for long, Olafsson writes beautifully rich tiny details and several will linger in my mind, at least for a while: a special haiku left unspoken, a fragile teacup wrapped in old newspaper, a bouquet of flowers patiently waiting to be rescued, a list of numbers, names and places repeated daily to stimulate an aging brain, wispy clouds glimpsed through an airplane window “tinged by the sun’s last rays.” And this gorgeous sentence: “When she begins to talk, it’s as if the words have been there all the time, a part of the silence, but now slowly detach themselves from it.”

I’m excited to discover a new author with plenty of work to choose from in my ongoing search for the next 5-star read. This was an excellent introduction to Mr. Olafsson for me and a strong 4+ stars. Easily recommended to anyone who enjoys quiet literary fiction with a thread of tragedy and a touch of suspense.

[Helga Mattína · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ég byrjaði að lesa þessa bók í fluginu á leiðinni til Tókýó og kláraði hana í lestinni á leiðinni til Hiroshima, vot í augunum.

Vá hvað hún var falleg, ég var eiginlega alltaf með tár í augunum þegar ég var að lesa. Ég er ein á ferðalagi um Japan og ferðalag Kristófers speglaðist svoldið við mitt eigið ferðalag, þó ég sé ekki í sömu erindagjörðum.
Mér finnst söknuður vera ríkjandi tilfinningin í sögunni, og ég hef mikið saknað á þessari ferð minni. Saknað en á góðan hátt.

[Fernando Cignola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come a volte accade, alcune letture si intrecciano perfettamente con il periodo dell'anno in cui si affrontano. Questo libro è come la pausa per una tazza di tè in un tardo pomeriggio autunnale. Delicato, ma dai toni caldi, mentre inesorabile sta arrivando l'inverno. Assapora a fondo il gusto della malinconia legata ai rimpianti, alle occasioni perdute, al passato che non può essere diverso da com'è, con consapevolezza, senza rabbia, con accoglienza. A quanto ne so, è il primo libro tradotto in italiano di questo autore, di cui spero di poter leggere altre opere.

[Karen Geirsdóttir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mjög skemmtileg saga, hafði gaman að henni og vel skrifuð. Spennt að sjá myndina🤓

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quiet and steady book. Kristofer's calm methodical thoughts and ways lead us through his journey in the past and his physical journey to Japan via London at the height of the Covid pandemic.

Both journeys have their ups and downs however Olafsson writes Kristofer in a very calming manner so reading it does not evoke any anxiety. Kristofer did mention how unhappy he was during a certain period but it was just one sentence. Irritation or anger, even hurt is dealt in the same manner. Personally although I do aim for the anger-less, anxiety-less utopia it is still rather far away and probably it will never be a constant in my life.

[Royce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads’ giveaway. While I am always delighted to receive a book, this one unfortunately did not work for me. The writing was overly dramatized to the point it didn’t feel credible to me. The story takes place at the beginning of the pandemic, before lockdowns were mandated. The narrator, Kristofer, a man in his seventies, living in Iceland, is forced to close his restaurant in Reykjavik due to the pandemic. Simultaneously, he receives a message from a long lost “friend,” Miko (a woman he knew and loved at University in London, in the 60’s) on fb. He decides almost immediately to leave his home and travel to Japan to reunite with her. Fifty years have passed since he last saw her, but he wraps up all the loose ends of his life in Iceland rather quickly, and takes two flights, first to London, and then the final one to Japan.
I suppose it’s an old man’s perspective, one of looking back on his life, deciding to take that last leap of faith, to reunite with the woman he once loved. BUT Kristofer’s spontaneous and impulsive decision seemed implausible to me.
While the synopsis of the book describes it as “mesmerizing,” and others on gr loved this book, I did not.
As I do not want to appear as a complete Grinch about Touch, I will add I do like the title and how touch was symbolic, especially in light of the surreal world of living through a pandemic.

[Shazza Hoppsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book when I was in Iceland recently and have enjoyed its sparse writing.
Despite the flashbacks and seeming improbability of the story I could not put this book down and had to ration my reading. The disjointed times undulated nicely through the narrative.
More than a love story, it’s a reflection on time, memory and aging. The sadness of the hibakusha of Hiroshima is something I am glad to have learnt about in this short compassionate novel.
I enjoyed the calm reflective voice of Kristofer.
It’s fascinating that an author with such a right brain background originally in physics writes a such a left brain book. Bet his school reports said what a well rounded character he is.

[Chloe Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I wanted to watch the movie later this summer. But honestly I didn't enjoy this until maybe a tiny bit at the end. Maybe it's because the voice is an extremely dry, uninteresting old man, and I don't identify with that, but I was soooo put off by the narrator. I only kept myself entertained by reading it sarcastically. I thought all the characters were 2d and predictable. I predicted why Miko disappeared so early on, and was confirmed correct at the very end. I enjoyed the last ten pages maybe. Also talking about covid is just such a tired subject. Put it to bed. Just watch the movie im sure you'll be fine

[Daphna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it would be a nice in-between read as I’ve really liked the Icelandic literature I've read so far.
Icelandic boy meets Japanese girl in London in the sixties. They are in their twenties, they fall in love and clichés and melodrama abound. Girl suddenly disappears. Boy returns to Iceland and lives his life
50 years later he decides to travel to Japan and reunite with her. Again, an abundance of clichés and melodrama.

And throughout we have the voice of the prattling self-absorbed narrator going on and on with nothing of importance gleaned, no originality in the execution and no added value that I could find in this banal story

[Ingibjorg Bjorgvinsdottir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besta ìslenska skàldsaha sem èg hef lesid ì langan tìma. Hef sjàlf bùid ī Japan og fannst ofbodslega gaman af tessu flakki ì sögunni milli Ìslands, Japan og London. Bòkinn verdur aldrei ruglandi tràtt fyrir ad mikid sè flakkad um ì tīma og rùmi. Einstakt ordfæri og fràbær texti.

[Daniel Yuhas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Wowie. Wowzers. What a beautiful book. Not necessarily the writing, but the story itself. For a long time, I thought I liked fantasy because of the mystery, the world different than our own, a place where there can be a happy ending. Not that real life does not have those moments, but because a good fantasy MUST have those moments somewhere along the line. That last sentence will explain my 2 star or less review of "The Poppy Wars," a critically acclaimed fantasy series that didn't have one damn happy moment in the entire 2000 pages or whatever it was despite having a great world and magic system. I think reading this book has given me a bit of insight on why I feel the way I do about certain books: I don't automatically love all fantasy, and I don't automatically dislike most purely fictional stories. I love fantasy because there is hope for a better future, that good people get what they deserve, that you reap what you sow. I dislike a lot of fiction because the endings so often seem to be the world is tough, and you WILL understand this by the end of the book.

Touch shows it doesn't need to be this way. The story follows an old Icelandic gentleman needing to know what could have been in his life, while reminiscing on what brought him to this point. There are good moments and bad. Moments of ecstasy and moments of despair. But there is always hope, and the understanding that life is not just the moment, not just the past, but many paths forward. It's about the attempt to do what is best in spite of the situation you have at hand currently. A person can make mistakes, but these mistakes do not define them. Let me write that again for all those fiction writers who will never read this because they are infinitely more successful at writing the way they do, but I must anyways for the sake of my own pleasure reading fiction in the future. A person can make mistakes, but those mistakes do not define them. A core tenant in fantasy literature. I loved this book. I believe Touch is a fictional story with hints of fantasy doing their damnedest to remind us that life is never too harsh. Highly recommend this book for those needing a simple, heartfelt story.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m delighted to be the first person to rate and review this book on GR.
I’ve discovered Olafsson by reading The Sacrament, which I really enjoyed, and was excited to read more by him when this came to Netgalley.
Olafsson is very, very good at writing quiet drama. There’s a measured Scandinavian calmness to his work, that certain brand of matter-of-factness, balanced out perfectly with a strong emotional backbone of the narrative.
This is a very simple story about a seventy-five-year-old Icelandic man who, amid the recent apocalyptic events, decides to reconnect with the love of his life, a Japanese woman he knew in London who has vanished on him fifty years ago without a word.
Through the dubious miracle that is social media, the two of them find each other once more, and skating through traveling restrictions across the distance that spans miles and decades, he goes to Japan.
Throughout his trip, the narrative dips back into the past, to take the reader into the swinging 70s (or whatever the 70s that followed the swinging 60s were) of London to tell a tale of two star-crossed lovers from very different cultures.
She and her father are Hiroshima survivors known as hibakusha, who in very bizarre twist of fate and a stunning example of victim blaming/shaming, became ostracized in their native land.
He somehow never heard of Hiroshima’s fate and has to educate himself about it. That read so strangely…but maybe it isn’t a well-known fact globally? Isn’t it? Shouldn’t it be?
Why would a young educated English-speaking man from a first world country not have heard of it? How? Very odd.
Anyway, the two meet and it’s love. Real love. It doesn’t last, because they are soon separated – it lasts a lifetime because they never leave each other’s hearts.
Still reclaiming it fifty years later is no easy task.
An absolutely lovely story. A lovely love story without any traditionally concomitant sap and cheese. Olafsson engages the readers easily with his writing style, there’s an organic storytelling quality to his narrative. A pleasure to read and a surprisingly quick read too. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[MM Suarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The city and its memories, the joy, the sorrows, and the anger—and the love that has stood in the way of so much all these years."

A beautiful, good old fashioned love story so delicately written, it feels like a secret whispered in your ear. I couldn't put it down, recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good (tragic) love story.

[Alma Finnbogadóttir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Falleg ástarsaga. Im a sucker for love!
Var lengi að komast í gegnum suma kafla en á síðustu 100 bls gat ég ekki lagt hana frá mér. En fallega skrifuð og skemmtilegar pælingar um ástina, lífið og heiminn.

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book; maybe it’s a 5 star…?!? Although the writing is simple and the book is brief, I can’t think of a better representation of memory and memories and how certain parts of one’s life always loom large and what time does and doesn’t do to them. This is the second book I’ve read recently written by aging authors, and there’s something powerful in how they’re able to look back and look ahead that I don’t imagine they’d have been able to do as effectively when they were younger.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read and admired Olaf Olafsson’s previous novel, “Sacrament,” so I had high expectations for “Touch,” and it easily exceeded them. I loved absolutely everything about this book, from the mesmerizing voice of seventy-five-year-old narrator Kristófer Hannesson, to the dual timelines following the events of his life in Reykjavik in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, when he is shuttering his restaurant, and in London in 1969, when he meets and falls in love with Miko, the Japanese girl who disappeared without a trace and who Kristófer has never forgotten. As the events of these two timelines unfold in simple but beautiful prose, Olafsson builds a quiet sense of suspense which culminates in an almost simultaneous moment of loss and redemption that brings the book to its emotional climax. “Touch” is at its most basic level a love story, and a memorable one at that—but it is so much more. I will be pressing this one into the hands of pretty much everyone I know.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ecco for providing me with an ARC of this title.