The Boston Globe–

Caitlin O’Hara died at age 33; she had cystic fibrosis. In “Little Matches,” her mother, Maryanne O’Hara (also the author of the novel “Cascade”) writes about her daughter’s life and death, and about the love that endures.

The book grew out of a blog O’Hara kept during the years Caitlin was waiting for a crucial lung transplant. She eventually received the transplant but it came too late to save her life. O’Hara began the book just nine months after her daughter’s death. Read more on The Boston Globe.

Library Journal Review —

In this vividly written memoir featuring text messages, blog posts, and emails, novelist O’Hara (Cascade) shares a painful but ultimately beautiful account of her daughter Caitlin’s life with cystic fibrosis. Little Matches depicts an unbreakable mother–daughter bond, as well as the crushing heartbreak that can come with living alongside chronic illness. In the hopes of discovering new beginnings after a tragic ending, O’Hara recounts the ways she tried to keep her daughter and their connection alive, even after her death. Revealing that our bodies may be temporary while we live on in those whose lives we touched, this memoir is a meditation on coming to terms with both the inevitable and the unknown. Including two unbearable years on a lung transplant waiting list, living in perpetual uncertainty, and a desperate search for meaning in the aftermath of loss, this account is devastating, but at its core is a message of hope about the endurance of love beyond death. VERDICT O’Hara shares her sorrow with honesty and elegance, and her compelling story will resonate with anyone seeking a light in the darkest depths of grief.

Publishers Weekly —

Little Matches: A Memoir of Grief and Light (HarperOne, Apr. 2021) by novelist Maryanne O’Hara illuminates a mother’s grief over the loss of her adult child and her quest for hope and wisdom. Read more on Publishers Weekly.

KIRKUS —

A raw yet comforting journal of grief, pain, and sparks of hope.

The story of a mother’s heartbreaking loss and her quest for answers to life’s tough questions.

O’Hara’s daughter, Caitlin, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 2. During their decades long wait for a lung transplant, the author began using a blog to provide updates about Caitlin’s condition to their family and friends. Despite her illness, Caitlin remained largely optimistic throughout her life, pursuing her interests, attending college, and traveling extensively before her death in her early 30s. As O’Hara shows, her daughter believed in taking advantage of every opportunity and inspired others to do the same. Read more on Kirkus Reviews.

The Woven Tale Press —

Maryanne O’Hara’s affecting memoir is both a work of life, and of art. The author tells us flatly from the outset that she is grieving the loss of her beloved only child, Caitlin, who was born with cystic fibrosis and died at age 33.

One focus is on Caitlin’s experience of suffering, her reversals at the hands of doctors and the hope for a double-lung transplant (which arrives too late); as well as her unfailing “positivity.” Another is on the writer’s parental suffering, and later on her survival; her own search for meaning in loss.

Despite her disease, Caitlin had a happy coming-of-age, close friends, college, and a loyal boyfriend, in addition to her own apartment and international travel. Thanks primarily to the father, Nick’s providing as an architect and builder, they enjoyed a life of modest privilege outside of Boston. Read more on The Woven Tale Press.

Psychology Today —

Maryanne O’Hara wrote and published short stories before researching and writing Cascade, a novel that explores“what lasts.” Shortly after its publication, her daughter Caitlin’s lifelong health condition worsened, requiring the family to uproot from Boston to Pittsburgh for more than two years to wait for a lung transplant. Little Matches: A Memoir of Grief and Light is Maryanne’s intimate recounting of Caitlin’s journey and her own, weaving a rich narrative of memories with text messages, emails, journal entries, and even drawings. By sharing how Maryanne navigates her existence during and after an adulthood dedicated to Caitlin’s care, the book chronicles one mother’s reckoning with what comes next when the worst finally happens and you’re left with the fact of yourself, still existing in a world that must make sense if you’re to continue living in it. Read more on Psychology Today.