An unforgettable account of living with Alzheimer's Disease by the partner of a brilliant artist whose mind is collapsing.

Julia Kelly met a 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.

"[A] candid, affecting and beautifully written account of living with Alzheimer's" - The Bookseller

"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

"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

"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.

"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