#BookReview of #TheMatchboxGirl by Alice Jolly

‘From the multi-award-winning author – a beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel telling the story of a young girl’s battle for survival and search for the truth in occupied Vienna‘
– The Matchbox Girl

[ About The Matchbox Girl ]

Adelheid Brunner does not speak. She writes and draws instead and her ambition is to own one thousand matchboxes. Her grandmother cannot make sense of this, but Adelheid will stop at nothing to achieve her dream. She makes herself invisible, hiding in cupboards with her pet rat, Franz Joseph, listening in on conversations she can’t fully comprehend.

Then she meets Dr Asperger, a man who lets children play all day and who recognises the importance of matchboxes. He invites Adelheid to come and live at the Vienna paediatric clinic, where she and other children like herself will live under observation.

But the date is 1938 and the place is Vienna – a city of political instability, a place of increasing fear and violence. When the Nazis march into the city, a new world is created and difficult choices must be made.

Why are the clinic’s children disappearing, and where do they go? Adelheid starts to suspect that some of Dr Asperger’s games are played for the highest stakes. In order to survive, she must play a game whose rules she cannot yet understand.

[ My Review ]

The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly published November 6th with Bloomsbury and is described as ‘triumphant and tragic, soulful and spirited, a burningly brilliant book that brings the stories of a generation of lost children into the light.’

Having just finished this extraordinary novel I am in a bit of a quandary as to how to present my thoughts. Although fiction, The Matchbox Girl is a novel very much based on fact, with Alice Jolly referring (in the Notes & Acknowledgements) to the many controversies surrounding the events described. With historical figures that can easily be referenced online, I was sick to my stomach and really quite disturbed upon completion.

Adelheid Brunner’s character is a work of pure fiction. Today Adelheid’s behaviour would fall under the spectrum of Autism but, in 1934, her condition made certain people uncomfortable and frustrated. Unable, or perhaps unwilling, to speak, Adelheid was brought to the renowned Vienna Children’s Hospital and put under the care of Dr Hans Asperger and his team. There Adelheid was allowed to just be herself, With no expectations or pressure on her regarding her behaviour she grew in confidence a little and became less on edge. As the Nazi engine steamrolled its way into Vienna, following the Anschluss in 1938, Adelheid was ready to embrace the excitement and the changes it brought with it, caught up in the general excitement as one of their own, Austrian-born Adolf Hitler, took control. His actions were initially met with rapturous applause and jubilation.

As time passed the reality of Hitler’s plans for a genetically perfect Aryan race started to seep into conversations. Rumours were spreading like wildfires about neighbours disappearing, suddenly leaving to visit relatives. Fear was creeping into homes and even whispers were no longer safe. For the hospital community, the environment changed, with Dr Asperger becoming quite tense and stressed. Adelheid observed her surroundings, writing copious notes and collecting her matchboxes, with the full encouragement of Dr Asperger and his staff. But Adelheid noticed things. She could see the changing expressions, understand the looks of terror but she struggled to deal with the complexity of her altering world.

When children started to disappear from the hospital wards, Adelheid became confused, but, as a reader, it is all too stark what was happening to them. Over a period of five years the Nazi regime conducted barbaric experiments on children who were considered sub-standard, in order to progress medical research at the Am Spiegelgrund facility in Vienna. Through Adelheid’s words we see the chaos and trauma that ensued leading to questions being raised about the true character of Dr Hans Asperger. Was he complicit in sending children to their brutal death or was he sacrificing some for the sake of others?

Alice Jolly’s research into this period of history must have been extremely disturbing and shocking. It took me quite a few days to read this novel for two main reasons. I did, at times, struggle with Adelheid’s voice and the odd syntax that is used to convey her thoughts but I also kept being diverted down an online rabbit-hole as I discovered more and more about this absolutely heinous period of history. As a narrator, Adelheid Brunner is unique, raw and so very vulnerable. Her story is powerful and very profound. Dr Asperger is often remembered as the father of neurodiversity with his radical approach to dealing with the children under his care. Historically, it was noted, that he was an opponent of the Nazi regime but in recent years, however, new evidence suggests otherwise.

Alice Jolly wonderfully captures Vienna during the oppressive war years through the eyes of this quirky young woman. This is most definitely a challenging read but it is worth persevering with as Adelheid’s character becomes more and more real as her story unfolds. Heart-breaking, unsettling and quite original, The Matchbox Girl is a memorable and unorthodox novel, profound and compelling.

‘…if everyone insists repeatedly that a thing is not there – then finally It Is There. Enough. Enough. We did all know. We did. Guilty as charged ~’

[ Thank you to Kate Durrant of the fabulous Natter with Kate & Michelle Podcast
for introducing me to The Matchbox Girl ]

[ Bio ]

Alice Jolly is a novelist and playwright. Her writing has been awarded the PEN/Ackerley Prize, an O Henry Prize and the V. S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, and been longlisted for Ondaatje Prize and the Rathbones Folio Prize. She teaches on the Creative Writing Masters at Oxford University.
X – @JollyAlice