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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I chose this as the first read to launch an office book club and am so glad I did! This kind of general nonfiction is appealing to everyone. The characters were rich and the details enthralling – it’s clear why this book so quickly skyrocketed. I will definitely be investing in “Everything I Never Told You,” Ng is a gifted storyteller.
I’m sure there’s not much more I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said, but I so enjoyed this audiobook!
There is a lot going on in this novel, the adoption really doesn’t feature quite as much as I expected but is the backdrop, as well as the catalyst for some events. There are multiple thought-provoking themes woven throughout which kept me listening at every given opportunity. My only complaint is that I like my endings to be a little less open ended.
What is family? This is a theme in several of my historical novels, and Ng does it well in this book in a contemporary setting.
This book was a fast read. Really great story line and development of characters. It was a really great book.
A nice book, a well-rounded story, well written. I read this book at a leisurely pace and while for me, it was not a page-turner, I was interested in every page. I would recommend this book and will try Ms. Ng’s other writings.
/ 4 stars
I had every intention of reading this book last year when I learned of the Hulu adaptation but just couldn’t manage to pick it up.
When the PopSugar Reading Challenge list came out and one of the prompts was “a book you meant to read last year” I knew Little Fires Everywhere was the one I would use.
The book starts off pretty slow and is a bit tricky to follow at first so I must admit I was having my doubts and getting kind of discouraged.
Not one to give up easily on a book I soldiered on and at about halfway in I was hooked and devouring the story.
The characters are messy, real, relatable, and developed in such a way that they pull your emotions in every direction; rooting for them while simultaneously hoping for their failure and vice versa.
While the story doesn’t end in a cliffhanger per se, I would love to see where these characters ended up.
“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”
“Most of the time, everyone deserves more than one chance. We all do things we regret now and then. You just have to carry them with you.”
Family drama
Despite a somewhat predictable trajectory I gave this book 4 stars quite simply because I enjoyed reading it. The rule-bound vs the free, the entitled vs the disenfranchised, the blinkered vs the aware, the hypocritical vs the honest; all told with a sure touch. The characters were well-formed if stereotyped. My favourite was Izzy; I rooted for her right from the start, and would love to read about the rest of her life. The ending was tantalisingly optimistic for those that moved on; while for those that remained in place, you were left feeling that they would let the opportunities to be honest with themselves and grow from their experiences, slip away from them.
Perspective is everything! This book shows that you can’t assume you know anything about anyone, so treat everyone with grace!
One of my new favorite books of all time! I could not put it down. I read this beautiful book in just a couple of sittings in two days. I did not want it to end. I wish all books were this good. Now, I started watching the tv adaption and it is just as good. I loved the dynamics of the characters and the representation of different families. Do yourself a favor and pick up this gem of a book. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! I loved the character-building and writing style. The book carries a powerful message about motherhood and families.
Celeste Ng is a master of quirky characters and family dysfunction. Authenticity and self-realization battle conformity and social pretense. She’s witty, and her observations are sharp, but there are no flat characters to be lampooned. Every character is flawed, every character is sympathetic. It’s no easy thing to pull off, and she does it so well. The characters drive the action, but there is definitely action. She’s telling a story, not just drawing characters. Speaking of drawing, it’s remarkable how Ng is able to render a character in just a few brush strokes. Read all her books!
I’m glad I saw the show before reading the book. Had I read the book before the show came out, I may not have watched the show. For the most part, the show was true to the book but I enjoyed the show much more than the book.
The book starts out with Mrs. (Elena) Richardson standing on her lawn in her bathrobe watching her house burn. Three of her 4 children are behind her but she does not know where her 4th child, Izzy, is. She fears that Izzy is the one who set the house on fire.
Then, the story goes back to when Mia and Pearl Warren arrive in town and are in need of a place to rent. They rent part of Mrs. Richardson’s rental property and start to get situated in the neighborhood. The neighborhood that has rules – grass cannot be over a certain length, houses on one side of the street can only be “this” color while houses on the other side can be “that” color.
Pearl becomes friends with Mrs. Richardson’s kids – Moody, Trip, Lexie and Izzy – and they hang out and spend time together. Izzy forms a bond with Pearl’s mom, Mia who is an artist. Mia also works at a Chinese restaurant when she befriends a waitress there who had left her baby outside a fire station some months prior. Mia also becomes a cleaner for Mrs. Richardson. Mrs. Richardson realizes Mia isn’t what she says she is and starts looking into her background.
Meantime, Mia realizes that the baby her co-worker left at the fire station may be adopted by friends of Mrs. Richardson’s and she convinces the baby’s birth mom to pursue custody of her baby.
The Richardson family lives in Shaker Heights, an upscale, progressive suburb of Cleveland, a place built on rules. Following these rules is supposed to build a unique community, free of the problems that plague other urban areas. It isn’t utopia, exactly, but it adheres to the tenets that if you follow the rules and live responsibly, happiness will follow. Into this close knit community come Mia Warren, an itinerant artist, and her daughter, Pearl. Mia is everything Shaker Heights isn’t. A risk taker. A traveller who lives by her wits and shuns materialism. She exists outside the rules. Small wonder that, when she rents a house from Elena Richardson, her daughter becomes fascinated with the Richardson family and the Richardson children (Trip, Lexie, Moody, and Izzy) become fascinated with the Warren’s. As their lives overlap, so do their secrets. Some, like Lexie’s unplanned pregnancy, are more devastating than others and as the story builds the cost of rules, both keeping and breaking them, plays out in the daily lives of both families.
Interspersed into the domestic dramas is a custody battle over an Asian baby. Bebe Chow, who abandoned her infant in a moment of desperation, now wants her baby back. The wealthy McCulloughs, unable to have children and who have raised little May Ling/Mirabelle since she was found at a local fire station, want to permanently.adopt her. Each part has valid points about what makes a family, and what is the best environment for the little girl. Mrs. Richardson, best friends with Mrs. McCullough since girlhood, sides with her friend. Mia, who works with Bebe at a local restaurant, sides with the devastated birth mother for reasons of her own.
Ms. My has crafted a beautifully nuanced story about rules, balanced it with deeper questions about family and acceptance, and given complex characters shades of familiarity. There is nothing two dimensional about the Richardson or the Warren’s, just as there is nothing wrong with how either of them chooses to live. The beautiful, stunning point of the book is that your choices have consequences, both expected and unexpected, and you carry those consequences with you whether you run or stay put.
If, like me, you read this book because you watched the Hulu miniseries, you probably share my absolute disgust that Hollywood took a hatchet to this book. Elena and Mia become stereotypes in the “rich white people bad, poor minorities good” fest of virtue signalling and social justice bludgeoning. In the book, the Warren’s race is not mentioned. Izzy is not bullied because she is gay. Mia never had a lesbian love affair with her photography mentor. Lexie does not appropriate Pearl’s experience for an essay and there are no racist/sexist/homophobic teachers or students because the book has nothing to do with those issues. While the book does touch on the perception of Asians by middle class white America, and whether a white couple can raise a Chinese baby, these are not the focal points of the book. What infuriates Elena about Mia is not that she is a black woman who steps out of line. It’s Mia’s refusal to follow the rules, and her happiness living a life outside them, that makes Elena both jealous and suspicious. Elena is not a frustrated feminist, angry at being tied down with a fourth child while longing for her thwarted journalism career and her college boyfriend. She loves her family, especially Izzy, even when her behavior mystifies her. Mia isn’t intimidated or resentful of Elena and the Richardson children. She opens her heart to them, and treats them with kindness. It is astounding to me that such a rich, compelling narrative, that needs no embellishment, would be twisted into a sermon on “wokeness.” I am adding it to my long list of book adaptations that Hollywood destroyed.
If you haven’t watched the screen adaptation, don’t. Spend your time reading and soaking in the story. You will be much richer, and much happier at the end.
The story begins with a fire and the mention of Izzy Richardson. Izzy is one of four children who lives in the house burning to the ground. The story also mentions a mother and daughter, Mia and Pearl, who rent one of the Richardsons’ apartments. Mia and Pearl leave the afternoon of the fire, so right away the reader wants to know what’s going on. All four Richardson children have become involved to some extent with Mia and Pearl who seem slightly mysterious.
Enter Beebe and Mrs. McCullough.
There are numerous twists and turns to this story. Who will like it? Read a full review at:
https://cyndiezahner.com/2021/04/15/little-fires-everywhere-by-celeste-ng/
I wasn’t sure what to write for the review on this book, so I wanted to read a few others before starting. There are several interesting views, and I love that some of the things that I thought of was positive things were sometimes considered negative.
The Richardsons all seemed that they were open-minded and progressive, but that didn’t seem to be the case, even for the adults. I forgive that in most children, because they don’t have the exposure, but it’s a sign that they’ve learned these behaviors from the grown ups around them. Mia didn’t deal with emotions and ran anytime something got hard.
I read a review that says the author didn’t give the reader the ability to choose who was “good” and who was “bad” but I disagree totally. Each character had their flaws and it seemed that it was hard to like any character too much. But that was also great because I examined myself and my own thinking and realized I was being super judgy, which I hated in the characters. Very thought provoking!
Little Fires Everywhere has been on my #tbr radar for some time, even more so after Hulu released their dramatized original mini-series. This will be a first for me- I enjoyed tv-series MORE than the book! Especially that ending!!
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Little Fires Everywhere is a slow burn read, luckily with my local library’s audiobook, I sped it up a bit. I enjoyed exploring my inner thoughts when faced with some of the ideas raised in this novel. Ng did a fine job exploring tough topics. These topics may be triggering to some, including race, class, surrogacy, abortion, sibling rivalry, marital strife, the finality of our choices, and motherhood as a whole.
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I’d recommend this book to contemporary literature fans looking for a thought-provoking read, an all-consuming look at the concepts many take for granted.
I fully agree with another comment I read, although I’m nowhere close to as eloquent…. The characters were so bold they were life-like. I felt every emotion each of them had. This is one of the few books I’ve read in a long time that I feel I need to just sit back and digest now that I’m finished. The circumstances each character found themselves in, I would think back to a time in my life that i had been at that age. I wondered how I would have dealt with the struggles. If you want a great book club book. I would definately recommend this one. Even if not for a book club, I believe this book. If read with an open mind, might bring people together. After all we alre all the same deep down….
I really enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere. As an author, I admired Ng’s use of the omniscient narrator deftly allowing the reader into each of the main character’s point of view. A page-turner with a lot of heart and hope.
This is my first Celeste Ng book and she clearly has a command of writing. As the onion layers come off the tranquil setting of the Shaker Heights planned community and its inhabitants, we see into the heart, and heads, of many characters. The challenge of multiple POV’s inevitably leads to one or two shining brightest to a reader. (See City on Fire By Garth Risk Hallberg as another example of this.)
I gravitated toward Pearl, the daughter of artist/enfant terrible Mia. This duo moves into the placid community, becomes entwined with The Richardson’s (mother, father and four children) and sh** hits the fan.
Many reviews talk about the motherhood themes, but aside from the B story of a white couple adopting a Chinese baby, it felt more like an expose on the veneer of what’s deemed ‘proper’ society; how thinly-veiled and delicate it all is, how the rules that bind it all together are both comforting and oppressive. Shaker Heights and The Richardson’s represent the Grand Dame of all the goodness and Mia and Pearl represent what becomes of you if you don’t aspire to be part of the 1%.
The budding love between Pearl and Trip, one of the Richardson sons, had the opportunity to be more if Ng had devoted more to the character of Trip. This was arguably the relationship that became the tipping point in the story and I didn’t feel it in my bones. Trip remained a distant character to me, partly because he was constantly referred to as one note: a good-looking, vacant jock. Had Ng revealed more of his mind it might’ve helped. (Part of the challenge with so many POV’s is running out of time and space to fully develop multiple voices. Or you write the 900+ page City on Fire and readers burn out at the 600 page mark. Yes, sometimes there can be too much a of a good thing.)
Another love angle, that of Richardson daughter Lexie and her boyfriend Brian, ends so abruptly, I was like “What?” I had the same reaction to how disaffected all the Richardson kids were with their own sister burning down the family home. (“Oh, that Izzy!”) It struck me as odd.
Otherwise, a fine example of writing. I got into the world right away and really enjoyed the segments on Mia and how she became obsessed with photography. Great insight into a creative mind.
I’m curious to see what path the TV adaptation takes. With Reese and Kerry on board, I have high hopes.
I loved this book. People can entwine themselves in other people’s lives and change them in ways they never know.