A smile, some show of concern for his well-being, and warm food leaves him hopeful that he may have found a friend. When he meets Sean, who scares him a little due to his physical strength, he is surprised how nice this stranger is to him. Roddy is incredibly strong, despite his physical frailty due to hunger and standing out in the cold, trying to sell their things. The family shop is not doing well, and all of Roddy’s ideas for improvements are brutally rejected by his father. His mother died three years ago and his father has become despondent, a drunk, and regularly beats the sh*t out of Roddy. Roddy had my sympathy from the start, and I was rooting for him from the moment I met him in chapter two. Initially he has to stay because his car needs extensive repairs, but once he meets Roddy – well, Sean may not want to admit it, but the “signs” of something more are there from the beginning.

Sean himself doesn’t quite know what to do with all the lovey-dovey stuff between his friends, and the small town and its friendliness has him a little on edge, but there are hints that he likes what he sees from the beginning.

But he comes to visit his friends in their small-town home and the way they treat him shows that Sean must be a loveable guy underneath his rough exterior. Sean is a tough guy, not given to emotional outbursts, and there are hints of a “dark” past. Jackie North has done an excellent job taking parts of the original plot, like the ogre of an abusive father and the freezing cold winter, as background to a modern-day slow-burn romance that had me close to tears more than once. Yes, there are elements of hope in the original version, but to me, a little girl dying in the cold because her father is a monster, no matter how happy she is in heaven, is not an enjoyable story. The retelling of ‘The Little Matchgirl’ (originally a fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen) had me curious how Jackie North would manage to take a tragic tale and make it a more modern, hopefully happier story. Will Sean return home? Will Roddy find his way in the snow? When Dad is arrested, Roddy is left on his own. Should Sean go or should he stay?Įver since his mom left them, Roddy is overwhelmed by his Dad’s drinking and abuse as he struggles to keep the family shop afloat. His plan is to head back to Chicago asap, but after he stops a father from beating his son, the young man catches his heart.

Sean is in Harlin to visit a friend and is uncomfortable with the small town vibe. The other is lost in a swirl of snow and despair and needs to be found. The other is a young man with an abusive father.

The Little Matchboy by Jackie North