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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What I enjoyed most about Celeste Ng’s novel Little Fires Everywhere, was the depth of concentration the author gave to motherhood and the dangers of pperfection and how it can be so disruptive. I also admired the way she used the metaphor of “little fires”–not just actual fires but with so many ofther references throughout the novel, espeically the implication that arguments and misunderstandings themselves are little fires about to explode–like the emotions of fear and anger. This is a phycholgical drama that I didn’t find an easy read because of the powerhose innuendos the author touches upon, which make you pay attention. I read this novel carefully, every pause, breath, comma, and period held an understated significance. Excellent.
I fought through 1/3 of this novel before I had to abort. There was not one character I could manage to give a darn about or relate to. I know people, lots of people, have loved this book, but I am absolutely not one of them.
This was one of my favorite reads of 2018. The characters were so well-developed that I felt like I knew each one of them personally. Celeste Ng did a wonderful job of 3rd person omniscient story-telling. Spectacular read!
This story is set in a strange little town, Shaker Heights, that I was not too keen on – seems way too cookie cutter for my taste. I know I would not live there – I need variety in life. This is another story of what seems to be a picture perfect family until you begin removing their layers. An intriguing read for a beach vacation!
A brilliant, deep look into the lives of families in a planned community. Told from multiple points of view, the reader gets a vivid, unblinking view of how lives connect and conflict and interact. Their needs and wants are fully explored.
Received an autographed copy. Artist photographer Mia, a single mom with teenage daughter Pearl, moves every 6 months until they arrive at Shaker Heights, OH. She rents an apt and the owner’s son befriends Pearl. A coworker where Mia works PT enlists her help to fight for custody of her baby. A fire keg is unleashed. It’s a story about the bonds of friendship, motherhood, family, and how strong yet tenuous these ties are, capable of sustaining or breaking who we are, reshuffling our goals. A reminder that we live are choices and how fast life swerves…where our control amounts to surfing the fallout.
Engaging read, recommended for quick readers who can follow fast-paced multiple POVs.
No, I haven’t seen the show. I almost never do that-the read a book after I watch the movie/tv show- thing. The book is always, always, always better. So I don’t often bother with it. I grabbed this book with the thought that if they turned it into a tv show then it must not be too bad- and I was right. This book was really good and I can see why they turned it into a mini-series. The characters are layered, everyone has elements of both good and bad- which I love to do in my own books because It’s real. I don’t like reading books with characters that end up like Disney villains or princesses, inherently pure or perfectly evil. I love, love books that stir up thoughts and can relate to real life, real choices, real decisions that real people might make in those situations. Situations that change lives and turn what might have been a really good person towards a direction they might not have ever considered if they hadn’t been faced with that circumstance.
This book is chocked full of good, bad, ugly, and bittersweet. Life. It’s a story that could actually happen. I enjoyed it and will read this author again.
If you saw this show, or read the book, or both, comment your thoughts on either of them. I’d love to see what you think.
Summary
Little Fires Everywhere is a domestic fictional drama by Celeste Ng. The story starts with a fire at Richardson’s home in Shaker Heights. Then, it flashes back the year before the incident happened. Elena Richardson’s new tenants, Mia and Pearl, pique her curiosity. She offers Mia a job as a housekeeper. Mia accepts it, just so she could keep an eye on her daughter, Pearl, who seems to be getting close to Moody, Elena’s son. Soon, Pearl gets closer to the Richardson family.
Mia works part-time at a Chinese restaurant with Bebe Chow who left her baby in front of a firehouse due to unfortunate circumstances. Bebe tells her that she badly wants her baby back. Later on, Mia finds out that the couple who has Bebe’s child are Elena’s very close friends. Bebe files for custody, and Mia supports her in getting her daughter back.
In an attempt to help the McCulloughs, Elena uses her connections as a journalist and starts digging up information. But instead of acquiring information about Bebe, Elena uncovers a secret that Mia has been keeping for so many years.
Review
This is one of the best books I have read this year! As a mom myself, I can relate so much to the struggles that the women in the story are going through. Elena, Mia, Linda, and Bebe have very different circumstances, so it is so hard to judge their character. I understand what they are going through, so I can’t really say who’s right or who’s wrong, but I honestly think that Bebe should’ve been grateful that the child she left in front of a firehouse ended up in good hands. Also, when she abandoned her child, she lost that right to be a mother. I also feel negatively about Mia for deceiving the Ryans. To me, what she did was completely unacceptable.
Overall, I’m giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. It’s the perfect manifestation of how crucial motherhood is, that every single decision made, regardless of intention, always makes the greatest impact in a child’s upbringing. I recommend it to ALL readers irrespective of age and preferred genre. This book is a must have!
The first thing that struck me about Little Fires Everywhere was the unique way Ng frames the thoughts of others, not head hopping, but in the way of “so and so wouldn’t know that…” I’ve never seen that done, and in less talented hands it might have been off-putting, but she nails the style with eloquence and conviction.
Multi-faceted and deeply introspective as the author delves into the lives of several characters, this is a page turner that makes you wish you could read it more slowly, to stretch out the inevitable end a few hours longer.
I haven’t read Celeste Ng before. That’s going to change. Simply outstanding.
Even the most perfect looking family can be very dysfunctional, especially when big lies enter the picture. There were so many things involved in this story – love, false hope, fake identities, abortion, kidnapping, arson, anger, privilege, poverty, betrayal. Little fire burning everywhere both metaphorically and literally.
The story was well written and captured my attention. The characters were well developed with subtle unpredictabilities. It is a story of family – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I wanted to give this book a rating of 5, but the open-ended ending was frustrating and disappointing to me. Obviously I can imagine what I think will happen, but not everything. But, aside from the ending, it was a good story that i would definitely recommend.
This was a book I had a hard time putting down. The book began at the end with Mia and Pearl moving away and the Richardson’s house burning down, then we jumped back about a year in time when Mia and Pearl moved into the Richardson’s rental house. The story was told in multiple POVs and each character was well developed. It read a bit like a mystery as you wondered how each subplot was going to end up with a fire and Mia and Pearl leaving. Although the book took place in what was supposed to be the town of Shaker Heights where everyone led perfect lives, it was clear that under the surface, people’s lives were far from perfect. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5-star was I really didn’t like some of the main characters and the decisions they made, especially Mia and Mrs. Richardson.
I decided to read this book when I discovered that Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington of Scandal fame collaborated to produce this book as a mini-series on Cable TV in 2020. This book is true to Reese Witherspoon’s preoccupation with struggling mother-child relationships and women’s insecurities about how they are perceived by other women and members of the closed, competitive societies in which they live. This book reminded me so much of the dialogue in Big Little Lies, a Reese Witherspoon HBO production, that confusion ensued and I was half-way through the book before I realized that I was in fact reading a different book, although a not so very different concept. How could I confuse the two? That’s exactly my point.
The story is set in wealthy, planned, idealistically Utopian striving Shaker Heights, Ohio between 1997-1998. There were so many characters and intersecting, overlapping sub-plots that I was never sure if there was actually ever a main character. Everyone’s life, every decision, every action impacted so many others it was hard to determine who the biggest bad wolf was. Everyone had a secret. Everyone was betrayed. Everyone hid behind lies, evasions, denials. Everyone used someone to cover up or uncover things they had no business knowing or doing. Everyone made decisions and stuck their noses in other people’s business, oblivious and uncaring, creating a chain reaction that ruined people’s lives, destroyed relationships, magnified instability, encouraged chaos, and exemplified self-serving, uncommunicative, dishonest, traitorous behavior.
The significance of the title? Yes, there are little fires deliberately set at the beginning. Perhaps symbolic, little fires might also describe the characters lack of commitment for any period of time. Sparks fly initially, then die out. What doesn’t come easily is abandoned.
The ending? Three people leave town and the ones that remain continue along their merry way. Anything that was extreme and supposedly earth-shattering and heart-breaking was ignored, swept under the rug, so life went on as if nothing happened that shouldn’t have. Lose a baby? We’ll buy another one. Lose a daughter? Maybe I’ll look for her in the future when I have some time. My secret’s out? Let’s skip town and go hide somewhere else.
Nobody is accountable. No one pays the piper. Too busy running, hiding, lying, covering up, laying blame on someone else.
Is this supposed to be a learn-from- negative- events book? I don’t think so. Stereotypical characters, lacking depth and dimension. It’s way too shallow for my taste. I’m pretty sure I won’t be watching the mini-series. I resent people and characters who are careless with other people’s lives. That’s just me.
I did not enjoy this novel. I did not get anything from reading it which is strange because most of the times I will find something to love or to learn about.
I felt no connection to the main characters, nor did I feel for their sad and confused lives. None of the reasons given to explain the main character’s behavior and life choices were plausible…I spent most of the time thinking “is this all?”
I found nothing original in this novel; the plot is far fetched, the situations and sub characters are clichéd or lack in nuance. As an example: when describing the main character Mia as an artist, I had the impression that it was someone’s vision of what Bohemia was and how artists conduct themselves and make art. It just felt like someone had described that world from an outsider’s POV and never from a real artist’s POV.
The wicked moms in their suburbia where “nothing is ever as you would think” are so obvious, as is the cookie-cutter familly of the “bad guys.” The full spectrum of the four kids just did it for me: jock, cheerleader, brainy, rebel: could not be more trite and convenient.
And finally, the constantly changing viewpoint was very distracting and stylistically did not add anything to the novel.
This is the story of two very different families, who met at a particular moment and didn’t understand how dangerous the meeting would be, and how it would place their values on the test for their next generation.
The book is full of questions about maternal competence, adolescent infatuation, the limits of professional ethics and mother’s love for its daughters. This is a family story that concerns each of us.
This was one of my favourite reads of 2018.
I loved the fact that the climactic action of the novel happens at the very beginning. The novel then unravels why that action happened which is very clever.
The characters were so interesting and each went on a journey so that the ending was highly satisfying.
No spoilers here! This emotionally-charged story of a birth mother versus adoptive parents kept me on tenterhooks throughout the custody battle, with the supporting characters playing known—and unknown—pivotal parts in the outcome. I highly recommend this excellent read!
I cannot get this story out of my head. The intricacies of the characters’ relationships, the depth of emotion, the shattering of lives left me with an urge to dive into the novel and sort everyone out. If you’d just mind your own business, I screamed in my head, If you only knew. A vivid depiction of the importance of knowing the facts before acting and then asking yourself, “Is this any of my business?”
On the surface, “Little Fires Everywhere,” is about an affluent community. However, Ng delves deeper into racism, gender, and entitlement, as the story unfolds. The central characters, Mia, and her daughter, Pearl, and The Richardson family are as unforgettable a they are ordinary. It is written with such care and detail, that we feel we actually know and have interacted with the characters.
Read my review here: https://aquavenatus.wordpress.com/2018/09/29/why-you-need-to-read-little-fires-everywhere/
This book is just as great as everybody says it is. I never wanted it to end.