Touched

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Johanna McVay is a woman who excites fear and anger in Jexville. She is out-spoken and some say outrageous. When her nine-year-old daughter, Duncan, is struck by lightning while dancing - a pastime frowned upon by the religious elements of the town - some say the uppity family got what it deserved. Duncan survives, but she is changed forever. She now has the ability to prophesy the future, but only in a limited aspect.When a terrible injustice is committed in the town, Johanna will not leave it alone. She has befriended a young woman, Mattie, who is a mail order bride to the town barber, a brutal man.Mattie narrates the story, and ultimately has the final say in bringing justice for sins long buried.Amazon.com ReviewThe Deep South never gets any deeper than 1920s Jexville, Mississippi, of Carolyn Haines' novel Touched. Dirt poor Mattie is the arranged bride of the town's barber Elikah, who is prone to deliver vicious beatings to his young wife. When a little girl is struck by lightning at a party and not only survives, but seems to have attained the ability to predict the future, Jexville is turned on its ear. The townspeople believe that the child is probably in league with the devil and that she and her mother are a danger. Mattie befriends the pair, earning punishment at the hands of her husband before winning freedom for herself and her newfound friends. From Publishers WeeklyHaines's fresh and suspenseful second novel (after Summer of the Redeemers) is set in 1926, in the "bleakly ugly" Bible-belt town of Jexville, Miss., where dancing is looked upon as a sin and women are expected to be docile and religious. Sold by her abusive stepfather into a marriage with a cruel and perverted man, 16-year-old Mattie Mills is isolated and lonely until she meets JoHanna McVay and her nine-year-old daughter, Duncan. Independent and assertive, JoHanna scandalizes the hypocritical community and is barely tolerated. When Duncan is hit by lightning after dancing, her survival and subsequent powers of clairvoyance are viewed as signs of the devil by the gossipy townsfolk. Anyone who associates with the McVays is vulnerable to the town's unreasonable fear and hatred. In addition to Mattie, whose marriage has deteriorated into violence and degradation, those who suffer the community's wrath include Floyd, a mildly retarded adult possessing "the trust and wonder of a child," and John Doggett, a writer who loves JoHanna. After a hurricane ravages the area, JoHanna, rightly believing that the superstitious townsfolk will blame her and Duncan for bringing it on, convinces the tightly knit, loving group of outcast friends to flee. Tension mounts to a high pitch as they are pursued and as Mattie and the McVays attempt to rescue Floyd and John, who are held prisoner by the vengeful community. Written with a languid sensuality, this rich and complex work features quirky, fully developed characters involved in an unpredictable story, with Mattie's long-awaited revenge providing a bittersweet but satisfying coda. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.