Touched has something of The Turn of the Screw, certainly, but with it, the brasher influence of Ira Levin, or Anthony Shaffer, screenwriter of The Wicker Man. There's a woozy atmosphere of menace, a satirical stab at Britain's post-war commuter-belt aspirations, and an elegant, postmodern, cine-literate twist. Touched is a gripping novella, a waking nightmare in the home counties that is both erotic and claustrophobic. Briscoe's prose is sensuous, poetic, light. Touched is a finely balanced creation, reminiscent of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Touched is a terrific little ghost story, to be surean exemplar of the short, smart shocks of horror Hammer-branded books have represented in recent yearsbut the narrative is not what makes it. Touched makes me mindful of Dylan Thomas, it's so poetic and haunting Joanna Briscoe is a truly lovely writer * Penny Vincenzi *Ī ghost story interwoven with crime, love and horror.
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