The #1 New York Times bestseller!Now a Hulu original series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.“I read Little Fires Everywhere in a single, breathless sitting.” —Jodi Picoult“To say I love this book is an understatement. It’s a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection. It moved me to tears.” —Reese … danger of perfection. It moved me to tears.” —Reese Witherspoon
“Extraordinary . . . books like Little Fires Everywhere don’t come along often.” —John Green
From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.
Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and many more…
Perfect for book clubs! Visit celesteng.com for discussion guides and more.
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Interesting and easy to read with very well developed characters. The ending seemed abrupt though and fell a little flat for me.
I did feel like I knew the characters in the book. I grew up in a town like that with its “insiders” and “outsiders” and people who thought their lives were different from reality. They are flawed human beings, just like the rest of us. I liked some immensely and did not like others, and when I respond to characters with feelings like that, I know I have read a good book.
This book reflects how just one person can change the lives of others. Interesting plot with twisted webs.
Fascinating and I have difficulty putting the book down as I want to read more to find out what happens. There are so many layers to the characters, their motivations and actions. Your own beliefs and emotions are challanged as you read. Also, you find yourself really caring about the characters and understanding their flaws.
I liked the character build up. The book kept evolving with surprising outcomes.
We know at the beginning there is a family tragedy . In Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng spends the rest of the novel introducing us to the characters and circumstances that led to the hook. By the end we know who is responsible and why.
The story taps several issues, prominent among them the relationships in families and the secrecy between teenagers and their parents. Eleana and Bill Richardson are white and wealthy, residing in the community they selected to raise their four teenage children, three of which would probably attend ivy league schools. And then there was Izzy, the youngest, and the most difficult to raise, the neediest, and most emotional. Even her siblings are aware Izzy doesn’t fit the plan Eleana , their mother, had for the perfect family system. Everything about Izzy doesn’t fit.
The fire investigators said there were little fires everywhere and Izzy is missing, but so are Pearl and Mia, the Richardson’s renters. There had been a conflict between the Richardsons and Mia. She had befriended a single mother whose child was in an adoptive placement. Parental rights hadn’t been terminated and Bill Richardson would be the attorney representing the adoptive family. Simultaneously, Eleana is seeking the truth regarding Mia’s past. Mia, the artist, spends most of her day with her creations, but to make ends meet she cleans and cooks for the Richardsons. Because Eleana suspects a betrayal, she is determined to investigate and discovers the reason Mia and her daughter move frequently.
The story touches on the interracial issues in adoption, surrogacy, abortion, class differences and the frustrations of a marginalized teenager. The inner rage of Izzy is released throughout the story and is relevant in today’s climate of the rash of school shootings as a result of bullying and isolation. It’s interesting that Ng’s character chooses to victimize those closest rather than randomly shooting in an insitution, such as school.
As with most chaos, several situations could have been changed early if the characters had communicated or taken time to reason through their decisions, but these characters were true to life and living in their own insecurities and often made assumptions that weren’t accurate. So in the end, there is some hope, but the damage has been done. I recommend this novel as a good read. Check it out on Amazon.
Interesting….not as good as I expected it to be
I was really liking this book and waiting for all the pieces to come together at the end, but instead it was like falling off a cliff! The book ended so abruptly, leaving many of the situations that unraveled throughout the book unanswered. very disappointing.
I read this book for one of my book clubs and found it well worth the time. The characters are well-developed, though I wanted to have a verbal confrontation with one of them. The life situations of the teenagers and the various parents were portrayed realistically. I didn’t always like the choices and outcomes various characters made or faced, but I understand why they happened. In each case, the actions either fit the character or the social situation of the time.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is a slow-paced book that brings the reader into the personal lives of its characters. Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl have arrived at Shaker Heights, the ideal, perfect community. They rent the upper floor of a rental home from the Robinsons.
Mia and Pearl have lived a nomadic life, traveling from place to place for Mia to finish a creative photography project. They have been everywhere. But now, Mia has promised Pearl that they will finally stay in Shaker Heights.
Moody, the youngest son of the Robinsons, helps Pearl through her first days at the high school. Their relationship is the perfect, innocent friendship of high school years and Pearl is looking forward to staying one spot for a long time. Pearl spends most of her time at the Robinson’s house, watching TV after school and slowly becoming part of their family.
Mia has taken a part time job at a Chinese take-out restaurant to support them during their stay in Shaker Heights. In her free time, Mia takes photographs and edits them in a way that leaves the viewer touched. Her pieces are quite famous and fetch a large value of money in New York.
Through a series of events, the whole community of Shaker Heights is divided. A Chinese baby is about to be adopted by one of the wealthy families, but the mother has come up and desperately wants her baby back. The town is struggling with what the right choice is for the little baby.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Robinson is doing some investigative journalism and discovers more about the Warrens.
Little Fires Everywhere is a book that slowly looks into each character. It’s one of those books that you don’t mind being slow. But about 200 pages in, I was ready for some action to really pick up the plot.
The writing is well done and the story itself is compelling. I think the book is widely popular due to the social issues it covers, mainly family issues. Never have I read a book that covers so much between two covers.
For me, the ending is unsatisfying. I’m still thinking about it and if the conclusion to the conflict was the right choice. But then again, if the ending was the opposite, I would still be unsatisfied with it. It really brought me to think and ponder what happened.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng gets 3.5 stars.
What an interesting book. It was interesting to see how personalities evolved.
Wow! Celeste Ng is so talented!
Loved it!!
This books illustrates the fact that there may be things about people that we don’t know just based on their behavior.
My book club read and discussed this book. I chose it because of its excellent reviews. It did not disappoint. Highly recommended.
So many characters. Judging is not our job. Take time to listen to people. Value them where they are.
The story took quite a few chapters to get rolling, but once it did, it was interesting.
I’m very much on the fence about this book. On one hand it’s a quick and easy read. You’ll find at least one character in the book you can relate to. It’s especially interesting if you come from a small or small-ish town. Everyone knows everyone else and is involved in everyone else’s business, directly or indirectly.
And there’s an ever so slight plot twist just to keep it interesting. I was only slightly disappointed because, after seeing an interview with Celeste Ng, I expected it to be much richer than it actually was. Overall not a bad read. This is a great one to have on hand for a trip or something for the beach bag.
original story with great characters
The author weaves together a fascinating cast of characters. The motivations of each person caught up the controversy surrounding a contested adoption are richly developed. I was sorry to have it end!