Read Women discussion

Hi all,

This the thread for our April group read. The theme was LGBT+ and the book we will be reading is The Matchstick Girl by Suzanne Hocking

The Matchstick Girl (Goodreads blurb)
Yelena walks the line between cold and poverty. Then for a brief moment fortune shines on her and Yelena catches a glimpse of hopes and unknown joys that she never imagined could have been within her reach. But as soon as it appears, it is taken from her. Obsession takes hold, and as the years pass, she grows to want far more than what the life of a young girl of the streets can offer. Through luck and deceit, she lands a place at the esteemed Smolny Institute for Noble Girls where the young women of the Russian court are taught mathematics, literature and science and where Yelena hopes to light a fire under Russian society. THE MATCHSTICK GIRL brings LGBT undercurrents to nineteenth-century Russia, as the young protagonist struggles with class differences, schoolgirl relationships and her search for self-empowerment.

Suzanne Hocking (From Goodreads Author Bio)
Suzanne lives in Wellington, New Zealand with her partner and a trio of furry companions. In 2007, she moved to New Zealand, freelanced for a time, and then took a major turn and began pursuing a career in paramedicine. She now works as a paramedic for Wellington Free Ambulance. She has had poems and short stories published in various literary magazines, and The Matchstick Girl was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize in 2012. She is currently hard at work on a new trilogy.


Carol nominated the book and will be leading the discussion this month.

I've got a few other book commitments right now (suddenly all my RL book groups are becoming more active now that most members are spending a lot of time at home!) but I hope to join in later in the month.

I know that Carol is supposed to lead, but The Little Match Girl is a favorite for me. I found a link about the story of the original fairy tale, "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Anderson. See https://www.thoughtco.com/little-matc... It can be seen as a sad Christmas story, but it can also be seen as an attack on social injustice. The modern re-tellings I've seen that have had the most power for me have been focused on social injustice. I was hoping to see that in this book.

Thanks for the link Shomeret I didn't realise this was a retelling. What a wonderful and sad story that says so much. Hopefully this will give me a little motivation; I have just started the book and am struggling a little to get into it but it is growing on me.

Shomeret wrote: "I know that Carol is supposed to lead, but The Little Match Girl is a favorite for me. I found a link about the story of the original fairy tale, "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Anderson...."

Shomeret - I'm so glad you commented and look forward to reading any and all of your takes on this book.

I'm very much looking forward to reading this book.

(Also - I'm totally slammed at work and expect it will continue until at least the end of May, so appreciate everyone who picked up the mantle on the Lost Children Archives discussion last month.)

Hannah wrote: "Thanks for the link Shomeret I didn't realise this was a retelling. What a wonderful and sad story that says so much. Hopefully this will give me a little motivation; I have just started the book a..."

I hadn't realized that either! (Yay, I'll actually cover both themes of our Q2 challenge instead of only the mystery/thriller one I knew I'd target.)

Discussion Schedule

Now - April 11 pp 0-76 (chapter xiii)
April 12 - April 19 pp 77-154 (chapter xxi)
April 20 x -> whole book

Anything can be discussed at any time using spoiler tags, but no spoiler tags are necessary for comments that pertain to the chapters we are reading and discussing according to the above schedule...

Discussion is open through Chapter xiii (page 76)

So.. what are your initial thoughts?

I’m up to page 64 and am so grateful that Hocking got Yelena out of the whorehouse before even worse events occurred. On the other hand and, there’s this overwhelming sense of perpetual doom that stops me from enjoying even goodness and friendship when it’s presented. I’m reading as if from between the fingers I’m using to cover my eyes.

I’m enjoying Hocking’s writing style. Just complex enough to be interesting without getting bogged down in paragraphs of either historical background or description.

Shomeret wrote: "I know that Carol is supposed to lead, but The Little Match Girl is a favorite for me. I found a link about the story of the original fairy tale, "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Anderson...."

I wondered about that just from the title. Thank you for sharing that! This means it will fit in well with our Q2 challenge for those who participate.

*eta: sorry, I pretty much just said what Carol already said...

I've read the entire book. I knew from the summary that Yelena was going to get out of the whorehouse. The Little Match Girl is usually portrayed as passive, but Yelena certainly isn't passive. So Hocking is asking what if the Match Girl had the determination to make a new life for herself.

I admit that I ended up liking the book less than I expected. One reason was that I thought it was longer than it needed to be. Other reasons would be spoilers at this point.

I’m up around 104 and am having a little difficulty relating to Yelena. I accept her as written, and can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up under the circumstances she experienced. But it’s challenging for me to enjoy a character driven by accumulating money, per se, as opposed to craving financial security or love or beauty/art or connecting with other like souls. Combined with her pulling away from Lilya almost as soon as (view spoiler)[Lilya married, long before she became pregnant (hide spoiler)], I want things to work out happily for her, but I can’t relate to some of her choices or what drives her. She’s a bit cold, I suppose. Always interesting, though. I didn’t see the extent of her fascination with the fortune teller coming, for example, not that it surprised, necessarily.

Carol wrote: "I’m up around 104 and am having a little difficulty relating to Yelena. I accept her as written, and can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up under the circumstances she experienced. But it’s..."

Being cold is self-protective. Yelena has repeatedly lost people and one reaction to that is to pull away to avoid becoming hurt. It's not an attractive trait, but understandable.

I would have liked to have seen more character development for characters other than Yelena. Rosa, the fortune teller, is one of them.

As someone who has studied Tarot and its history, Rosa's readings
contained what seemed to be an inauthenticity. She seemed to be reading from a deck that was fully illustrated. There were no such decks until the Waite-Smith deck appeared in 1910. I know this may seem nitpicky, but this is the sort of thing I notice. This is the second historical novel that I've read which had that problem.

I'm at 15% and am struggling to keep going to be honest. The writing is ok but not great for me. Something about it just feels inauthentic somehow

Shomeret wrote: "Carol wrote: "I’m up around 104 and am having a little difficulty relating to Yelena. I accept her as written, and can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up under the circumstances she experie..."

She is, indeed. Yes, anachronisms bug me in historical fiction. It’s not that difficult to research this sort of fact and adjust either the period or the deck.

Comment freely upon anything that takes place prior to page 175, and use spoiler tags, please for content that reveals major events between 175 and the end of the book

How's everyone doing? @Hannah, did you abandon it, or are you still moving forward? I had stopped in order to not get too far ahead, but plan to pick it back up this evening. Your comments resonated with me, though. I can't put my figure on what it is, but something seems not quite right, going back to the ease with which she escaped the brothel, and would go past it, hang around near it, without any repercussions. But I'll put that thought aside and see what comes next.

I'm afraid I haven't picked it up in a few days no, I just can't stand forcing myself through inauthentic writing when there are so many good books out there. I find the idea that if only women and girls who are stuck in these horrendous situations tried a little harder to be less passive then they could get away with such ease to be somewhat offensive.

I am almost done (88% on my kindle) only because I always finish a book no matter how unpleasant in the hopes that I will get something out of it in the end. This one is just not for me.
I'm finding the syntax annoying. I also have a hard time sympathizing with Yelena and her bad choices. Yes, she comes from a time and circumstance which during the time are horrible but she also makes bad choices which to me are inexplicable.

I'm at about page 100... I guess I like it so far? I'm not totally sure. I'm impressed with how much the author is fitting in to a teeny little volume - I feel like I got a good handle on most of the characters very quickly.

I'm sad for Lilya's son - that's basically Yelena's little brother, she seems not to care about him at all, he's got no mum, and his dad is shall we say having a hard time.

Sophie wrote: "I am almost done (88% on my kindle) only because I always finish a book no matter how unpleasant in the hopes that I will get something out of it in the end. This one is just not for me.
I'm findin..."

Sophie I admire your patience and wish I had more of it myself! I hope you do get something out of it in the end

comments welcome on the whole book. Discuss spoilers freely, without hiding content behind spoiler tags

For readers who finished, or have read as far as they intend, what did you think? What stood out for you? What worked well? What didn’t?