Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark

“In this vividly written memoir novelist O’Hara shares a painful but ultimately beautiful account of her daughter Caitlin’s life with cystic fibrosis. . . . Her compelling story will resonate with anyone seeking a light in the darkest depths of grief.”—Library Journal“Gripping and true in all ways. This fine, affecting memoir will stay with me for a very long time.”—Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion

When her only child was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF), Maryanne O’Hara was told that Caitlin could live a long life or be dead within months. Thirty-one years later, Caitlin lost her struggle with the disease following an excruciating two-year wait on the transplant list and a last-minute race to locate a pair of healthy lungs.The spiral of events left Maryanne in an existential crisis, seeking an answer to the eternal question: Why are we here? Caitlin had long been a source of wisdom for her mother. Together they had explored what it might mean to have a soul. After Caitlin’s passing, Maryanne began to notice persistent synchronicities that suggested evidence of Caitlin’s enduring presence.Weaving together a series of interconnected meditations with glimpses of life rendered via text messages, emails, and journals, Little Matches is a reflection on life and death, motherhood, the pain of chronic uncertainty, and on finding strength in what lights up the dark.