Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Matchstick Man
    Matchstick Man
    Matchstick Man
    Audiobook6 hours

    Matchstick Man

    Written by Julia Kelly

    Narrated by Aoife McMahon

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Julia Kelly met charismatic and successful artist, Charlie Whisker, while she was working on her first novel. He was twenty years older than her. Their relationship was passionate and extraordinary; each of them inspired the other. Their friends were writers, artists and rock stars; they lived a glamorous life of exhibitions, parties and concerts. They became parents to a daughter they adored. But Charlie suddenly changed, becoming hopelessly forgetful, angry and confused. This is an unbearably honest, unsentimental and heartbreaking description of a brilliant man's mental disintegration and its effects on his family. Charlie's disturbing behaviour is described in a series of terrible, understated revelations. An unforgettable telling of a story that will be familiar to many thousands of people in the UK and Ireland.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateJan 25, 2019
    ISBN9781528847391
    Author

    Julia Kelly

    Julia Kelly is the award-winning author of books about ordinary women and their extraordinary stories. In addition to writing, she’s been an Emmy-nominated producer, journalist, marketing professional, and (for one summer) a tea waitress. Julia called Los Angeles, Iowa, and New York City home before settling in London. Readers can visit JuliaKellyWrites.com to learn more about all of her books and sign up for her newsletter so they never miss a new release.

    More audiobooks from Julia Kelly

    Related to Matchstick Man

    Related audiobooks

    Personal Memoirs For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Sad Farewell

      Jul 2, 2021

      FOR readers there’s a real poignancy to seeing The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley at the top of the SA fiction bestseller list because it’s the last book that will be released by the much-loved Northern Irish author. Riley’s family recently announce

      1 min read

    • Article

      Best-sellers

      Feb 25, 2018

      Rankings for hard-cover books sold in Southern California, as reported by selected book stores: ___ Fiction 1."The Great Alone," by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin's: $28.99) A family discovers it is in peril after the father, a returning Vietnam War POW,

      1 min read

    • Article

      Come with Me

      Dec 1, 2022

      Come with Me
      12 min read

    • Article

      Longer on Moon

      Sep 22, 2022

      Longer on Moon
      19 min read

    • Article

      Summer Beach Reads

      Jan 10, 2021

      Summer Beach Reads
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Double Life

      Dec 7, 2020

      Sadie is in the kitchen, already dressed in school uniform, fastening the clips on the violin she chose for her most recent birthday, when Gabriela heads downstairs the following morning. Seven years old: how the hell did that happen? Briefly, she wo

      6 min read

    • Article

      My Best Friend

      Oct 1, 2020

      My Best Friend
      6 min read

    • Article

      Foxes

      Jun 15, 2019

      What’s worth happening happens in deep woods. Or so my daughter tells me. Her plotlines: In the deep woods someone is chasing, someone else is getting hacked. Hatchets are lifted, brought downdowndown. Men stutter blood onto snow. A cast of animals—s

      17 min read

    • Article

      Open Short Story Winner Tight Situation

      Apr 4, 2024

      When Carol first wakes up, she thinks it must have been a dream. The ringing phone had been distant, muffled as if the landline device had been buried in a bag of something soft like cotton wool - the packing material stuffed so tightly into its bag

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Man I Should Have Married

      Dec 29, 2019

      The Man I Should Have Married
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Idiots

      Feb 26, 2021

      The Idiots
      18 min read

    • Article

      THE CYBER Saviour

      Feb 10, 2021

      THE CYBER Saviour
      3 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reads

      Dec 30, 2019

      Summer Reads
      7 min read

    • Article

      Speak Out

      Dec 8, 2022

      Speak Out
      5 min read

    • Article

      Tótem

      Dec 5, 2023

      Tótem
      1 min read

    • Article

      That Particular Sunday

      Jul 6, 2023

      That Particular Sunday
      26 min read

    • Article

      Why, Dad? Why?

      Oct 2, 2022

      Why, Dad? Why?
      7 min read

    • Article

      Seven Poems

      May 1, 2023

      There was a boy even stranger than I waswho’d call me in the eveningto see if I’d come to Scouts. Something in mehesitated. Then one morning during eighth grade English we got hall passesand did it in a stall in the bathroomtaking turns over the john

      3 min read

    • Article

      Seedlings

      May 6, 2021

      Seedlings
      9 min read

    • Article

      Penny

      Jul 2, 2020

      Penny
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Temporary Arrangement

      Oct 2, 2023

      A Temporary Arrangement
      19 min read

    • Article

      Search and Destroy

      Oct 24, 2017

      My daughter has bugs living in her hair. It is my job to kill them. The post Search and Destroy appeared first on Guernica.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Bad To Worse forever 12

      Jan 25, 2024

      Bad To Worse forever 12
      7 min read

    • Article

      After “The End”

      Oct 10, 2022

      I walked down the road with a hunched back and a wet cigarette in my mouth—the fire had died a while back. My hands were tucked into the pockets of my jacket, and my hair fell over my face, limiting my sight. But I wasn’t really seeing where I was go

      10 min read

    • Article

      Jason the Heat Guy

      Jan 11, 2021

      Jason the Heat Guy
      11 min read

    • Article

      We’re All Just Butterflies

      Sep 29, 2020

      We’re All Just Butterflies
      4 min read

    • Article

      Red Kite Grey Shadow

      Nov 3, 2022

      Red Kite Grey Shadow
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Matchstick Man

    4.5/5

    16 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      With a heavy heart I'm going 3 stars (I want to put 1).

      The book is selfish and plays off a relationship that was never there. The author name drops entertainers that her partner worked with and friended as a result of his work. She writes this under the guise that Charlie (debilitated) wanted the story told. He was 20+ years older than her, and the relationship was father-figure & oh great catch Charlie.

      Alzheimer's is the tip of the ice berg. It's the keyword searched for when a person needs comfort and proof they are not alone. The author writes that doctors told her their small child was not safe with her father who at this time had not reached the heights of Alzheimer's. Her reaction frankly pissed me off and I was not at all surprised later the choices she made for herself, leaving Charlie and their young daughter second.

      Read with an open-mind. If Alzheimer's had affected your family and you find yourself reading this, try to focus on the little girl. Her reactions, fears, and growth as she helplessly watches her father spiral downward. There are lessons here if you dig.
    • 5/5
      The author wrote this book at the urging of her husband. He felt he needed to defend himself against the judgement of his “friends”. And, perhaps the author did too. The couple were struggling financially and trying to cope with his illness amidst the plenty of his social circle. The author, needing to protect her young child, had to make very difficult decisions. Julia Kelly’s trademark is her fine touch. Despite a difficult subject matter and unflinching honesty, her empathetic treatment adds beauty to grief.
    • 5/5
      Your book has really hit home for me. My husband has the starting signs of this monster you so well describe. Thank you for sharing your story with us. It has helped a LOT.
    • 5/5
      I thought this an incredibly honest and loving book, beautifully narrated.