The Matchstick Cross

by Laurie Parker

In 2004, New York City-based interior designer Celia Friday returns to her native Mississippi to clear out a storage unit full of boxes from her recently-deceased mother’s attic. Accompanying her on the trip is her business partner and best friend, Huey LaFleur, who has come along to help with the task, provide comic relief, and experience the Deep South for his first time ever. Recollections from Celia’s life in New York, where she has often been criticized by “Yankees” for her state’s racist past, are juxtaposed with flashbacks to her high school days, when she was the only white girl on an otherwise all-black basketball team. Humorous anecdotes of her hapless dating life, accounts of harrowing childhood experiences in a church where she struggled with bullying and proselytism, hilarious hometown characters, huge secrets kept, heartbreak, and a hint of the mystical are all masterfully woven into a life story that will make the reader laugh, cry, remember when, and wonder.

Southern sentiment, seventies nostalgia, and conversations about the insignificant with her gay best friend help flavor this saga of a single woman’s sorrows, successes, and spiritual seeking. The Matchstick Cross is a tale of journeying back, of sorting through memories, of un-boxing things long-stored, and of trying to make sense of it all.

512 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Laurie Parker is a fiction and non-fiction writer and illustrator. Parker is also an avid gardener. She resides in her hometown of Starkville, Mississippi.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a new best friend, and her name is Celia Friday! I related so much to so many of Celia's experience's, both as a child and adult, that sometimes I felt like the book was about me! This is a wonderful story with a twist in the last pages that you won't see coming! Truly, If you are a 'misplaced southerner,' or know someone who is, you MUST read this book!

FROM THE COVER:
"In 2004, New-York-City-based interior designer Celia Friday returns to her native Mississippi to clear our a storage unit full of boxes from her recently deceased mother's attic. Accompanying her on the trip is her business partner and best friend, Huey LaFleur, who has come along to help with the task, provide some comic relief, and experience the Deep South for his first time ever.

Recollections from Celia's life in New York, where she has often been criticized by "Yankees" for her state's racist past, are juxtaposed with flashbacks to her high school days, when she was the only white girl on an otherwise all-black basketball team. Humorous anecdotes of her hapless dating life,....hilarious hometown characters, huge secrets kept, heartbreak, and a hint of the mystical are all masterfully woven into a life story that will make the reader laugh, cry, remember when...and wonder"

[Crockettkid · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was hard to get into this book as it moves very slowly (if at all). It uses flashback to tell the story of a NYC designer who grew up in MS. I didn't read the modern parts - didn't find them interesting. However, the descriptions of her childhood in small town MS are spot on.

[Lacey Elam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! It is a great read. I laughed and cried. Celia is such a relatable character. I can't wait to read more from Laurie Parker!

[Tina Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celia is such a relatable character. This is the most touching book I have read in a while.