A Book About A Matchbox

Just imagine. A matchbox with a special gift. A matchbox that has stored up tales, witnessed from the pockets of several previous owners. The final owner and friend of the matchbox has tuned in and received the stories of varying experiences of different people.

'Our matchbox hero Ingmar was able to communicate such stories to me. It is a little known paradox that empty matchboxes are in fact full. They are full of tales of the people who have handled them or been in its presence.'

This idiosyncratic debut novel from Barry Webb meanders through a series of apparently unrelated tales about people and situations encountered over a number of years. But are they really unrelated? In both the light and dark moments revealed in the tales, each reader will start to delve into their memories so as to explore where their experience ‘matches’ what is being related.

Eventually the tales give way to a poignant, uplifting and somewhat surprising conclusion. What if someone suddenly discovered the life for which they had constantly yearned? The life which they had dreamed about so often but which seemed to have been destined never to become a reality? Just imagine...

“Like many people I carry stories in my mind, whether remembered, imagined or real and embellished. I felt inspired by a need to share these ordinary tales with people I know and with a wider public. I am by nature garrulous and a rambling storyteller and I simply chose to use the unique gift of Ingmar the matchbox to tell the tales,” says Barry.