Touch

Subtly expresses the tension between civilisation and nature embedded deep in the Canadian psyche and the nation's founding myths

Adrian Turpin, Financial Times

Such memorable characters, such a strong sense of atmosphere, such grace, and all of these done with a wonderfully light touch...I was moved by the elegiac telling, the unapologetic tenderness that never became maudlin, and the characters...the narrator for whom my heart broke at the end. I will remember this story for a long time.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Praise for short story 'Touch', the first chapter of the novel

An affecting debut from a major new talent.

Philipp Meyer, author of American Rust

Touch is one of those rare novels that simultaneously takes hold of both your imagination and your heart and does not let go. In sharp, startling prose, Alexi Zenter seamlessly weaves the story of Sawgamet and its inhabitants, creating a world of myth and magic, hard truths, aching loss, and spectacular triumphs. It's a gem of a book.

Aryn Kyle, author of The God of Animals

A fantastic story set on the margins of the northern forest, Touch explores the mystery that connects the heart of the wild with human passion. This is a tale of extremes, both marvellous and magical...in the midst of brothels, prospectors, lumberjacks, ghosts, obliterating snowstorms and devastating fires, Zentner strings memory in grave rhythmns, making the sound of love. A beautiful first novel.

Beth Powning, author of, The Hatbox Letters

Touch is full of a sinister magic straight from the tradition of the Brothers Grimm: the dark, impenetrable forest, the ravenous water-witches, the menace of blizzards, the rivers that swallow people whole and leave them frozen in the ice all winter, straining to link hands. Such savagery, however, only illuminates the deeply human love in the marrow of this novel, which Zentner achieves with incredible grace and greatness of heart.

Lauren Groff, author of, The Monsters of Templeton

A stunning and provocative debut

Tea Obreht, author of, The Tiger's Wife

Alexi Zentner has created a seminal poetic story that resonates in our collective memory of timber, minerals and snow; of ghosts and gods and death; but above all, reminds us of the faith and love and optimism necessary for survival.

Linden MacIntyre, author of, The Bishop’s Man

In this sweeping family saga, Zentner delves into the heart of myth and memory. Eerie and beautiful, Touch is a love-song to the power - and brevity - of dreams.

Johanna Skibsrud, author of, The Sentimentalists

[An] eerie, elegiac debut ... The rugged wilderness is captured exquisitely...and despite a narrative rife with tragedy, Zentner's elegant prose keeps the story buoyant.

Publishers Weekly

Calling up both the brutal conditions...and the tough men who wrestled with them, Zentner tells a lyrical tale conveying both the beauty and the danger of the wilderness.

Booklist US

Alexi Zentner's debut novel is poised to be one of those books that gets people talking... The story is slippery and complex, but told with seemingly effortless ease. Touch is indeed a gem of a book.

Quill & Quire, Canadian trade magazine

Zentner excels in evoking the place and details of domestic life

Sunday Telegraph

Touch is Zenter's first novel. It is an enchanting phantasmagoria of the imagination as well as a practical tale of the human lust for gold and the human struggle with implacable nature. All in all, a deeply satisfying read

Clarissa Burden, Tablet

As dazzling as the snow that fills its pages, Touch marks Zentner out as a talent to watch

Sunday Times

Truly magical

Reading Matters

A remarkable novel, full of mystery and beauty, it chills you to the bone and then warms your heart

Mary Lawson, author of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE

A ravishing and phantasmagorical tale, written with the elegance and quiet menace of snowfall

Chloe Aridjis, author of BOOK OF CLOUDS