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[[quoteright:926:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_touch.jpg]]
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!!''The Touch'' provides examples of:
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* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: The moment Nell is born, Alexander declares that he intends for her to marry Lee, Ruby's son, irritating her with his attempts at planning their lives out so early. It fails, as there's never a hint of attraction between them, much to his disappointment and Lee ends up marrying ''Elizabeth''.
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* LikeASonToMe: How Alexander feels about Lee and vice versa, as Alexander has no biological sons and Lee's father is absent.
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* SingleSexOffspring: Elizabeth and Alexander only have two daughters, Nell and Anna, with a SexlessMarriage afterwards because it's too dangerous for her to conceive. When Anna becomes pregnant, Elizabeth notes the irony that he might finally get a male heir via his daughter's rape, only for Anna's child to be yet another girl.
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* ChocolateBaby: When meeting Elizabeth's son Lee, Alexander notes his unusual hair and eye color and asks if his father is Chinese, which she confirms.
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* ChocolateBaby: When meeting Elizabeth's Ruby's son Lee, Alexander notes his unusual hair and eye color and asks if his father is Chinese, which she confirms.
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* CreatorProvincialism: The book is set in [=McCullough=]'s native Australia, like several of her other well known novels.
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* GroinAttack: Upon learning the identity of Anna's rapist, her nanny Jade entices him to her room, then drugs him and ties him up. He regains consciousness in time for him to experience her ''slowly'' cutting off his genitals, all the while just as slowly bleeding to death.
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* DaddysGirl: Nell, taking after Alexander in looks, personality, and interests.
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* LoveAtFirstSight: Elizabeth and Lee have this reaction to each other, though neither of them recognize the feeling.
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* RaisedByGrandparents: Alexander and Elizabeth take over as Dolly's parents as it becomes more evident that Anna cannot.
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* RavenHairIvorySkin: Elizabeth is described as this.
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* SkinnyDipping: [[NakedFirstImpression The first time]] Elizabeth sees Lee, he's doing this.
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* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Nell is certainly the latter trope, speaking in full sentences at only two and demonstrating a keen interests in academic topics far advanced for her age, but she's definitely not the first, often being quite abrasive and outspoken.
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* {{Expy}}: One of the criticisms of the book is that Nell is essentially this of Justine O'Neill of ''Literature/TheThornBirds'', given their many similarities--an abrasive personality, difficult relationship with their mother, unconventional, but not necessarily unattractive looks, etc.
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* HatesWearingDresses: When Nell gets older, her mother insists on her wearing dresses when she isn't working in her father's mine, resulting in several scenes of her tripping and falling.
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* KissingCousins: Elizabeth and Alexander are distant ones.
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* SettleForSibling: Alexander wrote to Elizabeth's father asking for her ''sister's'' hand in marriage, but as she was already married, he offered him Elizabeth instead.
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* ChildByRape: Dolly is the result of Anna having been seduced (or raped rather, given her age and mental state) by a local.
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* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo;
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* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo;FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo; Elizabeth is Dolly's grandmother, but takes over as her mother as it becomes increasingly clear that Anna, her real mother, can no longer care for her. The book ends with Dolly still clueless about her true parentage, thinking she's the big sister to babies Alexander and Mary-Isabelle when she's actually their niece.
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* DeadGuyJunior: Despite her unhappy marriage to Alexander, Elizabeth names her son after him, though probably out of respect for Lee, who loved him like a father.
* FamilyEyeResemblance: Despite clearly instantly adoring both her new baby brother and sister (or so she thinks, they're actually her aunt and uncle), Dolly is fonder of the boy because he has her mother Anna's eyes, and despite having only been a baby when Anna died, something in her remembers her.
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo;
* FamilyEyeResemblance: Despite clearly instantly adoring both her new baby brother and sister (or so she thinks, they're actually her aunt and uncle), Dolly is fonder of the boy because he has her mother Anna's eyes, and despite having only been a baby when Anna died, something in her remembers her.
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo;
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* TangledFamilyTree: At the end of the book, the ten-year old Dolly is the niece to six month old twins Alexander and Mary-Isabelle. Meanwhile, her aunt Nell is their big sister, despite being 24 years older than them, old enough to be their mother. This is because Nell's mother Elizabeth had her at a very young age (17). What's more, Dolly actually thinks that she herself is the twins' older sister, because she thinks Elizabeth is her mother, but she's not. She's the daughter of Elizabeth's other daughter Anna, who couldn't care for her as she was mentally disabled, meaning that Elizabeth is actually her grandmother.
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A 2003 historical novel by Colleen [=McCullough=] (author of ''Literature/TheThornBirds'')
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* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Elizabeth gives birth to her daughters Nell and Anna at 16 and 17, respectively. When Anna is raped and impregnated at 13, she becomes an example of this too and makes Elizabeth an absurdly youthful ''grandmother'' at only 30.
* AgeGapRomance: Alexander is 15-20 years older than Elizabeth. She herself is 7 years older than her second husband Lee.
* ArrangedMarriage: Elizabeth Drummond is essentially forced into this with Alexander Kinross, a distant cousin who she barely knows.
* AuthorAvatar: Eleanor "Nell" Kinross is this to [=McCullough=], having many similar characteristics along with wanting to be a doctor, as [=McCullough=] originally did before learning she was allergic to the chemicals used in the OR.
* AwfulWeddedLife: Elizabeth and Alexander, somewhat. She was forced into an ArrangedMarriage with someone she barely knows and he eventually gives up on his sincere attempts at winning her affections. While they don't outright hate each other--if anything, he actually does love her very much and she herself admits there have been moments when they've been in complete agreement on things--it's never a happy union.
* BabiesEverAfter: Not only does the book end with Elizabeth introducing Nell to her new baby brother and sister, her stepfather Lee tells her that she's pregnant again.
* ChineseLaborer: There was a substantial Chinese immigrant population in Australia at the time of the book's setting and Elizabeth is awestruck at the fact that all of her husband's servants are Chinese, having never even seen people of other races before leaving Scotland.
* ChineseLaunderer: When given a tour of her new husband's home, Elizabeth is embarrassed to learn that men will be doing her laundry, but she's quickly reassures that it's the custom.
* ChocolateBaby: When meeting Elizabeth's son Lee, Alexander notes his unusual hair and eye color and asks if his father is Chinese, which she confirms.
* FieryRedhead: Ruby. This is one of the reasons Alexander tells her they can't marry--"we'd kill each other".
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: A variation when Elizabeth discovers that her mentally disabled, 13-year old daughter Anna is pregnant (given her age and mental capacity, this can be considered nothing but rape). The local doctor refuses, but on medical grounds, not moral—Anna is too far along for the procedure to be done safely.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Elizabeth hates having sex with Alexander because she doesn't love him, but she's absolutely floored with how wonderful sex can be when she has it with Lee, who she's madly in love with. By the end of the book, they're the parents of twins, expecting again, and all dialogue indicates that they still can't keep their hands off each other.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Madam, rather. Ruby runs a brothel, but is clearly a good person and treats her girls well.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Ruby is roughly 15 years older than Elizabeth, but they become the best of friends.
* MaidenAunt: Elizabeth looks back over her 20-year loveless marriage and ''still'' thinks it was a better fate than remaining in Scotland as this.
* TheMissusAndTheEx: A variation, considering that she actually ''isn't'' the "ex". Ruby, Alexander's mistress, and Elizabeth, his wife, meet at a party and instantly hit off and become the best of friends. Despite their dislike before they met, each quickly comes to sympathize with the other--Ruby quickly sees how miserable Elizabeth is being married to a strange man thousands of miles from her home, while Elizabeth soon sees how much it hurts Ruby to have see Elizabeth and Alexander together while their own relationship must be conducted in secret because he's a prominent businessman while she's a madam.
* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Nell finds it very amusing that she's 24 years older than her new baby brother and sister, old enough to be their mother.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The ''entire town '' is outraged when word gets out that Anna Kinross has been raped and impregnated, as the unknown rapist's behavior is especially despicable as Anna is not only only 13, she's mentally disabled and doesn't even understand what's happened to her.
* SexlessMarriage: Elizabeth and Alexander settle for this, as it's ostensibly too dangerous for her to conceive again--she suffered from preeclampsia in both pregnancies and nearly died in childbirth both times. As Elizabeth doesn't love him and hates having sex with him, this works fine for her.
* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Ruby and Lee's father, then later Elizabeth and Lee.
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* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Elizabeth gives birth to her daughters Nell and Anna at 16 and 17, respectively. When Anna is raped and impregnated at 13, she becomes an example of this too and makes Elizabeth an absurdly youthful ''grandmother'' at only 30.
* AgeGapRomance: Alexander is 15-20 years older than Elizabeth. She herself is 7 years older than her second husband Lee.
* ArrangedMarriage: Elizabeth Drummond is essentially forced into this with Alexander Kinross, a distant cousin who she barely knows.
* AuthorAvatar: Eleanor "Nell" Kinross is this to [=McCullough=], having many similar characteristics along with wanting to be a doctor, as [=McCullough=] originally did before learning she was allergic to the chemicals used in the OR.
* AwfulWeddedLife: Elizabeth and Alexander, somewhat. She was forced into an ArrangedMarriage with someone she barely knows and he eventually gives up on his sincere attempts at winning her affections. While they don't outright hate each other--if anything, he actually does love her very much and she herself admits there have been moments when they've been in complete agreement on things--it's never a happy union.
* BabiesEverAfter: Not only does the book end with Elizabeth introducing Nell to her new baby brother and sister, her stepfather Lee tells her that she's pregnant again.
* ChineseLaborer: There was a substantial Chinese immigrant population in Australia at the time of the book's setting and Elizabeth is awestruck at the fact that all of her husband's servants are Chinese, having never even seen people of other races before leaving Scotland.
* ChineseLaunderer: When given a tour of her new husband's home, Elizabeth is embarrassed to learn that men will be doing her laundry, but she's quickly reassures that it's the custom.
* ChocolateBaby: When meeting Elizabeth's son Lee, Alexander notes his unusual hair and eye color and asks if his father is Chinese, which she confirms.
* FieryRedhead: Ruby. This is one of the reasons Alexander tells her they can't marry--"we'd kill each other".
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: A variation when Elizabeth discovers that her mentally disabled, 13-year old daughter Anna is pregnant (given her age and mental capacity, this can be considered nothing but rape). The local doctor refuses, but on medical grounds, not moral—Anna is too far along for the procedure to be done safely.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Elizabeth hates having sex with Alexander because she doesn't love him, but she's absolutely floored with how wonderful sex can be when she has it with Lee, who she's madly in love with. By the end of the book, they're the parents of twins, expecting again, and all dialogue indicates that they still can't keep their hands off each other.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Madam, rather. Ruby runs a brothel, but is clearly a good person and treats her girls well.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Ruby is roughly 15 years older than Elizabeth, but they become the best of friends.
* MaidenAunt: Elizabeth looks back over her 20-year loveless marriage and ''still'' thinks it was a better fate than remaining in Scotland as this.
* TheMissusAndTheEx: A variation, considering that she actually ''isn't'' the "ex". Ruby, Alexander's mistress, and Elizabeth, his wife, meet at a party and instantly hit off and become the best of friends. Despite their dislike before they met, each quickly comes to sympathize with the other--Ruby quickly sees how miserable Elizabeth is being married to a strange man thousands of miles from her home, while Elizabeth soon sees how much it hurts Ruby to have see Elizabeth and Alexander together while their own relationship must be conducted in secret because he's a prominent businessman while she's a madam.
* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Nell finds it very amusing that she's 24 years older than her new baby brother and sister, old enough to be their mother.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The ''entire town '' is outraged when word gets out that Anna Kinross has been raped and impregnated, as the unknown rapist's behavior is especially despicable as Anna is not only only 13, she's mentally disabled and doesn't even understand what's happened to her.
* SexlessMarriage: Elizabeth and Alexander settle for this, as it's ostensibly too dangerous for her to conceive again--she suffered from preeclampsia in both pregnancies and nearly died in childbirth both times. As Elizabeth doesn't love him and hates having sex with him, this works fine for her.
* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Ruby and Lee's father, then later Elizabeth and Lee.
