«Kelly's talent is such that she is able to wring so much beauty, pathos and even humour from all this trauma... Matchstick Man challenges us to consider what a life is and, perhaps, to appreciate it all the more'»

Dublin Sunday Independent

«Traces the bitter reality of Alzheimer's disease as few other pieces of writing have ever done»

Nenagh Guardian

«This moving book traces the reality of Alzheimer's disease as few other pieces of writing have done»

The Clare Champion

«Julia Kelly writes with confidence and with meticulous attention to the grind of daily life... She is impressively honest about her failings and his'»

Sunday Times

«I admired Matchstick Man, Julia Kelly's unsparing account of coping with her husband's alzheimer's»

Madeleine Keane in the Literary Diary, Sunday Independent

«[A] candid, affecting and beautifully written account of living with Alzheimer's»

The Bookseller

«Ragged and terrifying, but it also achieves a rare grace, as Kelly writes her way from resentment to compassion. It is a tribute to her craft that as the book ends we can only wonder at Charlie's fortitude, and hers»

TLS.

«Julia Kelly finds beauty in words... A sad book about the loss of a mind and the conflicting layers of a relationship. We can only sigh in relief that such a talented writer was created in the process'»

Ruth Fitzmaurice, Irish Times

«An unforgettable telling of a story that will be familiar to many thousands of people in the UK and Ireland»

Spalding Guardian

«A tragic story, but [Kelly's] honest telling gives it an uplifting quality that leaves you cheerful rather than depressed at its end»

Irish Examiner

«A searingly honest and moving tribute»

County Down Spectator

«Heartbreaking... Yet somehow, at the same time, it is uplifting and life-affirming, and at times even funny... [Kelly] writes beautifully and with great humanity'»

Irish Independent