Playing with Matches is a great example of good Southern Literature. Not great southern literature, but very good. Wall gets the voice of growing up poor, different, and feeling abandoned in rural Mississippi. There is a lot of symbolism here, but it does take a while for the title to catch up to the story. I really enjoyed the first half of the book describing Clea's childhood; the second part of the book when she is grown and facing her demons by coming back home in a time of great need is a bit confusing at first, but well worth the effort. Clea is born of a single, loose woman who promptly turns her baby over to her neighbor, Jerusha, a stern black woman who disapproves of Clea's mom but raises this white baby all the same. Clea's family becomes blended with Jerusha's sister, Miss Sookie and Sookie's daughter Bitsy, and of course kind "Uncle" Cunny and her best friend, Claudie from down the road. Yet she still yearns for her mother's acknowledgement. Some things from her unusual childhood and the issues with her mother are never really resolved, but that's life, isn't it?? The characters here are fully fleshed and so real I think I might have met some of them, y'all! There are several subplots here, and the best one concerns crazy, cursing (as in I curse you!) Miz Millicent and how her backstory suddenly comes out and makes such sense to Clea. Written in sometimes a dreamlike state, this novel is reminiscent of Wiley Cash and is a great addition to a shelf of southern stories. Thank you to my friend Karen T for lending me this book; I shall indeed pass it on!!!
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