Touching Distance

Dr Alexander Gordon is a passionate and ambitious young obstetrician who is living in the wealthy city of Aberdeen in the 18th century. Since the birth of their first child, his wife has retreated into herself. Gordon, so adept in dealing with the woes and trials of the women he cares for, is unable to do the same for the woman he loves most. He is determined to discover why so many women, easily delivered of healthy babies, then die unexpectedly.

As his research moves on, he finds he needs more practical evidence for his theories, and it is here that he finds himself ostracised by his peers. For Gordon thinks he has discovered the cause of the deaths: it is puerperal disease - childbirth fever. If Gordon can make his discovery both accepted and understood, hundreds of lives will be saved...