The matchbox girl by Alice Jolly

What an amazing book! Set within the period of the rise of Nazism and the advance of German armies into Austria, we are led by the mute-girl, Adelheid, into her world. There is nothing easy about her life or about being mute, but it is probably her unconventional view of the world that defines her. She is differently-abled, seeing the world in a way that craves order and yet does not always perceive nuance or the power struggles that are swirling around her. Her collection of match-book covers is in a constant state of ‘re-ordering’. In her internal voice (as if we are reading pages from her notebook or her internal cogitations) we are led into the confusion of her existence, but also the history of autism diagnoses and the work of Dr Asperger (and others). The confusion of the Nazi response to the Jews and those with disabilities adds extreme life-altering consequences to those in the hospital and education facility where Dr Asperger works and where Adelheid shelters. This is a powerful fictional book that uses the facts of the past but is spoken by a naive ‘voice’ that resonates (but sometimes also confuses). Be prepared to be charmed and challenged by Adelheid’s view of the world, and also afraid for her. Can her voice ever be heard?

Written with the expression of an autistic-voice and grammar, and occasional disorder, there are times when a mature view and understanding of history needs to be added in order to create some sense of Adelheid and her thinking …. But it is worth persevering through the fog and into her world. (Note: Capital letters may be scattered within sentences without a reason for being.)  The author has created an authentic experience for her readers in understanding the different ways that the world might be seen. Adelheid has some autistic traits, an intelligence that maintains its naivety but also a limited perception and vision of what is happening around her, but with a patchy understanding of the complexities of her life. Her growth and understanding does mature, but she still shares her logic in ways that can be difficult to fathom. This is a book that will require a mature reader, or at least a reader that has encountered autism-spectrum traits before. The history is told of the psycho-social world of autism and its diagnosis and the way it might have been perceived in the past - mostly through Adelheid’s eyes. This, intertwined with war history, becomes a powerful statement about disordered thinking that challenges notions of what is normal, right and just. Crossing borders, chronologies and even ‘after-death’ reflections, there is a complexity in this book that will require a persistent reader (aged 16 - Adult), but it has resonated with me, and the power of the book will linger long past the last page. So many injustices for so many within our world and in war-time particularly. 

Themes: WW 2 - Austria, Disability, Nazism, Asperger’s, History of autism diagnosis, Grief, Resistance, Injustice, Resilience, Mutism, Historical fiction.

Carolyn Hull