AustLit

"For nearly one hundred years Seymour Bazett has been burying 'treasures' in his backyard. His garden is full of the mementoes, keepsakes, trophies, experiences and sufferings that have made up his life. Now there is only one bit of gardening left to do - Seymour is about to bury himself. In digging his grave, however, he has unearthed some of his earlier burials. It is these objects that now conspire to tell the strange stories of how they came to be preserved. ... The Touchstone is peopled with eccentric characters and unlikely happenings tackling the minutiae of life, the grand passions of love and murder and the eternal issues of sex and death." (Book jacket)