Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
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From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, the intertwined stories of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the mother and daughter who upend their lives "I read Little Fires Everywhere in a single, breathless sitting. With brilliance and beauty, Celeste Ng dissects a microcosm of American society just when we need to see it beneath the microscope ..."--Jodi Picoult, New York Times -bestselling author of Small Great Things and Leaving Time In Shaker Heights, a placid, show more 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. show lessTags
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BookshelfMonstrosity Two disparate families become entangled in each other's lives in these insightful, character-driven novels that tackle the weighty topics of privilege, class, adoption, and identity. While the themes are serious, both authors inject humor and poignancy into their stories.
20
vwinsloe A dystopian view of many of the same themes of abortion, adoption, motherhood.
sylvarum The books are by the same author, are both set in suburban areas of America, and touch on similar themes of belonging, adolescence, cross-cultural conflict and familial tension.
11
Member Reviews
"Little Fires Everywhere" is an emotional story with well-drawn characters who feel remarkably authentic. It's an engrossing and insightful look at motherhood, identity, family, privilege, the pursuit of perfection, obsession, and the hidden aspects of ourselves.
This book is both delicious and immersive, weaving together a multifaceted suburban saga that delves deeply into the complexities of mother-daughter relationships. Ng's story is a thought-provoking social critique, exposing the various forms of privilege and exploitation that can prevent people from achieving the American dream.
Despite the difficulties, there is an encouraging sense of optimism. This is a story about the transformative power of art and genuine kindness, and it show more emphasizes the possibility of growth even in the aftermath of devastation, even when everything appears to be in ruins. show less
This book is both delicious and immersive, weaving together a multifaceted suburban saga that delves deeply into the complexities of mother-daughter relationships. Ng's story is a thought-provoking social critique, exposing the various forms of privilege and exploitation that can prevent people from achieving the American dream.
Despite the difficulties, there is an encouraging sense of optimism. This is a story about the transformative power of art and genuine kindness, and it show more emphasizes the possibility of growth even in the aftermath of devastation, even when everything appears to be in ruins. show less
I really wanted to give this book a higher rating. I think the author has talent, and a great eye for detail. I would be willing to read other works of hers.
What bogged this book down was some of the characters were absolutely infuriating. Mia, Mrs. Richardson, and Izzi especially. Izzi fucking burned down her family's house because IDK, teenage angst. I mean, I'd understand it if she was being abused, but she wasn't. The only time I liked anything she did was when she stood up for a kid that was being bullied, but everything else she did was just stupid. This included antagonizing a woman who adopted a baby who had been abandoned. (yes, you heard me right)
Which leads me to Mia. Said baby had been abandoned by her coworker (Mia and the show more woman did not become coworkers til well after that fact) and by pure chance, Mia learns of who adopted Bebe's baby and so tells Bebe because the state would not tell Bebe where they placed the baby, after she ABANDONED it. So then Bebe harasses the family who gave her baby a warm and loving home, and even then, Mia still defends Bebe, even after it comes out that the baby was malnourished when it was abandoned at the fire station. So it really pissed me off that both Izzi and Mia were defending Bebe when the couple who took the baby in clearly loved her, and provided for all her medical needs so that she was healthy and happy.
Mrs. Richardson (Izzi's mother and Mia's landlady/employer for housekeeping) is friends of the couple who took in the baby, and she defends them (which I agree with her on) and I don't blame her for investigating Mia, but I hated how she treated Izzi. Yeah. Izzi is far from perfect but Mrs. Richardson bears some of the blame for her shitty relationship with her daughter. Still, compared to Mia and Izzi, Mrs. Richardson was the one I least hated out of the three.
It's no wonder Mia and Izzi bonded so well, but it wasn't necessarily for the right reasons. Mia seemed pretty harmless in the beginning of the story, but I came to really hate her the more I learned about her, same with Izzi. I lost all sympathy for Izzi after she was being mean to the baby's adoptive parents and I found Mia to be a huge hypocrite!
Good writing, but some pretty despicable characters despite the fact that we're SUPPOSED to feel sorry for them, and I really hate it when authors write characters like that. show less
What bogged this book down was some of the characters were absolutely infuriating. Mia, Mrs. Richardson, and Izzi especially. Izzi fucking burned down her family's house because IDK, teenage angst. I mean, I'd understand it if she was being abused, but she wasn't. The only time I liked anything she did was when she stood up for a kid that was being bullied, but everything else she did was just stupid. This included antagonizing a woman who adopted a baby who had been abandoned. (yes, you heard me right)
Which leads me to Mia. Said baby had been abandoned by her coworker (Mia and the show more woman did not become coworkers til well after that fact) and by pure chance, Mia learns of who adopted Bebe's baby and so tells Bebe because the state would not tell Bebe where they placed the baby, after she ABANDONED it. So then Bebe harasses the family who gave her baby a warm and loving home, and even then, Mia still defends Bebe, even after it comes out that the baby was malnourished when it was abandoned at the fire station. So it really pissed me off that both Izzi and Mia were defending Bebe when the couple who took the baby in clearly loved her, and provided for all her medical needs so that she was healthy and happy.
Mrs. Richardson (Izzi's mother and Mia's landlady/employer for housekeeping) is friends of the couple who took in the baby, and she defends them (which I agree with her on) and I don't blame her for investigating Mia, but I hated how she treated Izzi. Yeah. Izzi is far from perfect but Mrs. Richardson bears some of the blame for her shitty relationship with her daughter. Still, compared to Mia and Izzi, Mrs. Richardson was the one I least hated out of the three.
It's no wonder Mia and Izzi bonded so well, but it wasn't necessarily for the right reasons. Mia seemed pretty harmless in the beginning of the story, but I came to really hate her the more I learned about her, same with Izzi. I lost all sympathy for Izzi after she was being mean to the baby's adoptive parents and I found Mia to be a huge hypocrite!
Good writing, but some pretty despicable characters despite the fact that we're SUPPOSED to feel sorry for them, and I really hate it when authors write characters like that. show less
“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.”
Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere
Ng is an amazing, brilliant and talented writer! After reading her first novel, Everything I Never Told You, I became an instant fan. So when I started reading Little Fires Everywhere, and could not (and did not) put it down, I was not surprised. I finished it in one sitting and found myself completely immersed in the Richardson family, and Mia and Pearl's lives. Her detailed writing made me feel as if I was a part of the Shaker Heights community. With Little Fires Everywhere, Ng delivers a scandalous show more story, which is constantly moving and full of complicated, yet well-developed characters. Another thing I appreciated is how Ng gives different perspectives on heavy-duty issues such as surrogacy, adoption, and abortion. I found myself on both sides of the fence more than once throughout the novel. If you are looking for a book that will give you tons to discuss and debate about then look no further.
Shoutout to Edelweiss and Penguin Press for providing me with an arc of the book in exchange for an honest review. It was a true pleasure to read - oh and the book was so good I bought myself a copy! :-) show less
Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere
Ng is an amazing, brilliant and talented writer! After reading her first novel, Everything I Never Told You, I became an instant fan. So when I started reading Little Fires Everywhere, and could not (and did not) put it down, I was not surprised. I finished it in one sitting and found myself completely immersed in the Richardson family, and Mia and Pearl's lives. Her detailed writing made me feel as if I was a part of the Shaker Heights community. With Little Fires Everywhere, Ng delivers a scandalous show more story, which is constantly moving and full of complicated, yet well-developed characters. Another thing I appreciated is how Ng gives different perspectives on heavy-duty issues such as surrogacy, adoption, and abortion. I found myself on both sides of the fence more than once throughout the novel. If you are looking for a book that will give you tons to discuss and debate about then look no further.
Shoutout to Edelweiss and Penguin Press for providing me with an arc of the book in exchange for an honest review. It was a true pleasure to read - oh and the book was so good I bought myself a copy! :-) show less
This is the book I wish I could have written, and these are the characters I'd like to have written about. I loved every second of this book! I really get a kick out of books (like this one) where I'm listening to it in my car, and I have to talk back to it. Like something happens, and I reply to it, "Well, what did you expect?" or "Damn right she did!" I love that!!! I was so engrossed with this book, I found myself not wanting to get out of my car and get on with my life! I actually resented my real-life moments for interrupting my time with this novel!!! Great read!!!
This book completely lived up to the hype for me. Ng writes believable, complex characters that are in situations that, while they are dramatic, are still plausible.
This novel is set in Shaker Heights, a planned community in Cleveland, OH. It is regimented and every detail is planned, but it also strives to be diverse and welcoming. How successful it is is a complex answer. Within this community, the Richardsons have a perfect suburban life. When Mia and Pearl move into the Richardson's rental home, everyone's lives are shaken up. Mia is an artist and Pearl is her teenage daughter. They've lived a nomadic life and the reason why is one of the secrets that will be unearthed. Also central to the book is a custody battle between adoptive show more parents and a birth mother. To be honest, the idea of that sensational topic would have really put me off reading this book, but Ng makes it work and uses it to explore other themes more deeply.
Elena Richardson and Mia are set up as contrasts of motherhood and there is so much to unpack here. They are both complex and I love the Ng can write characters that are so different, yet neither is "right". Ng also explores themes of career vs. motherhood for women.
I read this book because I'm going on a long weekend beach trip with some of my fellow "mom friends" this weekend. I'm so glad we picked this book because I think we'll have a lot to talk about and the discussions could easily lead to more global and personal discussions about motherhood, womanhood, living in the suburbs, career, and life in general. I think we will have some differing opinions about the characters in this book and I'm looking forward to that! show less
This novel is set in Shaker Heights, a planned community in Cleveland, OH. It is regimented and every detail is planned, but it also strives to be diverse and welcoming. How successful it is is a complex answer. Within this community, the Richardsons have a perfect suburban life. When Mia and Pearl move into the Richardson's rental home, everyone's lives are shaken up. Mia is an artist and Pearl is her teenage daughter. They've lived a nomadic life and the reason why is one of the secrets that will be unearthed. Also central to the book is a custody battle between adoptive show more parents and a birth mother. To be honest, the idea of that sensational topic would have really put me off reading this book, but Ng makes it work and uses it to explore other themes more deeply.
Elena Richardson and Mia are set up as contrasts of motherhood and there is so much to unpack here. They are both complex and I love the Ng can write characters that are so different, yet neither is "right". Ng also explores themes of career vs. motherhood for women.
I read this book because I'm going on a long weekend beach trip with some of my fellow "mom friends" this weekend. I'm so glad we picked this book because I think we'll have a lot to talk about and the discussions could easily lead to more global and personal discussions about motherhood, womanhood, living in the suburbs, career, and life in general. I think we will have some differing opinions about the characters in this book and I'm looking forward to that! show less
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng, author, Jennifer Lynn, narrator
If I had to use one word to summarize this book, I would use motherhood, motherhood in all of its possible definitions. What does it mean to be a mother? What makes a good mother? Who has the right to decide what is or who is a good mother? Who has the right to decide the timing for motherhood?
The story has several interesting female characters. One, Elena. Richardson, basically unconsciously, picked mercilessly on her last born child, daughter Izzy, because she was afraid she would suffer from health issues as she grew up. She was premature, and the doctor had warned her of possible repercussions in her future. Her overly critical treatment of the child hurt her show more emotionally. Her other children were self-confident, privileged and a bit irresponsible, assuming everyone lived in the comfortable way that they did. Mrs. Richardson (Elena) can be described as a creature of habit and structure. She expects others she has been kind to, to return the favor. She is a bit of a good-natured busybody. Therefore, one has to wonder if her intent is truly kind. She has been a local reporter for a small neighborhood paper for years and would like a good story to help her break out into real journalism. The Richardson’s live with material excess, what today is called “white privilege”. Is that a fair term of description?.
Mia is unconventional and her mothering is as well. In her youth, struggling to pay for her education in photography, Mia agreed to be a surrogate mother, but, instead, after a change of heart, she ran away and kept the baby, named Pearl. She continued to run for the rest of her life to avoid dealing with what she had done. Her parents rejected her because they believed she was selling her baby. Was that what she was doing? Mia and Pearl subsist on what she earns from selling her work or from odd jobs. They move when the mood strikes Mia and are not attached to material possessions. They live minimally.
Mrs. Riley wanted a surrogate mother to bear a child for her, one that looked like her. She and her husband had the wherewithal to pay someone to have a baby for them. Should that contract be binding legally and subject to criminal charges if broken?
Mrs. McCullough could not conceive a child. She had had several miscarriages. She and her husband desperately wanted a baby. Many attempts at adoption had been unsuccessful, until, one day, they were offered an abandoned child to adopt. What happens if the biological mother shows up and wants that baby back? Who should raise that child? Who is the rightful mother?
Bebe, a Chinese immigrant, is impoverished. She abandoned her baby because she could not afford to care for her when she was abandoned by the father. Her English was poor and she was unable to care for the child properly, although she tried her best. Did she do the right thing? Was it criminal? Did she give up her rights to the child in the future?
Lexi is a teenager who engaged in unprotected sex and decided to have an abortion when she discovered she was pregnant. She was supposed to go to Yale and the baby would have negatively impacted the lives of herself and her boyfriend. She wondered, did she make the right decision? Should she have discussed it with her boyfriend? Did he have the right to know? Did her mother have the right to know? Should she, as the adult and guardian have been consulted? Will Lexi carry that decision with her for the remainder of her life, always wondering if it was right or wrong?
For me, the title holds several meanings. One would pertain to an actual fire, one would pertain to creativity, coming up with a new idea, and one would pertain to the idea of encouragement, to figuratively lighting a fire underneath someone to propel them into action. This book, explores those ideas with regard to motherhood and life, in general, through the experiences of the characters. It also exposes the different ideas that define all types of motherhood. Should class, status, social standing, culture or ethnicity influence any of the choices regarding motherhood, behavior and rights?
The story takes place in the community of Shaker Heights, an affluent community in Cleveland, Ohio. It is essentially a bubble filled with similar people who have similar goals of upward mobility. The Richardson family lives there. Mia and Pearl Warren arrive there looking for a suitable community to settle in with good schools and a safe environment. Mia has decided that Pearl would benefit from a less nomadic life. They rent an apartment from the Richardson’s. They live in a minimalist way while the Richardson’s live with obvious abundance. The Richardson’s and the Warner’s learn about and react to each other’s way of life.
Moody Richardson and Pearl Warren are high school sophomores. They become fast friends as they are the same age and are in many of the same classes in school. Pearl loves her new home and also becomes friends with Lexi Richardson who is a senior. When she meets Trip Richardson, a junior, a romance develops. Izzy, is the youngest Richardson child who has always been singled out as a troublemaker by her mom, and so she has subsequently taken on that persona of a troublemaker. She becomes close to Mia Warren who opens up her mind to being less rebellious. She is kind to her and accepts her as she is, but her advice is often ill thought out. Izzy remains “a loose cannon”.
The ideas of abortion and unwanted pregnancies are examined along with the idea of who is the real or true mother in a custody battle between a parent who abandoned her child and the parent who hopes to adopt the child, the surrogate or the one engaging her. What rights does a surrogate mother have when she signs an agreement to deliver the child to the family? Which idea of parenting is more beneficial to children, the structured or unstructured approach? When an underage female has an abortion, who should decide whether or not it is appropriate, who should counsel her?
Each of the female characters in the book engages in behavior that is not always by the book, ethical or even legal. Yet they all seem to get away with pushing the envelope. The person who behaves least responsibly seems to come out the winner, in the end, although that irresponsible behavior was the catalyst that caused many catastrophes that can not be reversed. I wondered why that has become acceptable behavior. I wondered, also, who was the greater villain of the mothers featured. Was it the busybody Mia, who chose her nomadic life over her daughter’s need for structure, or the busybody Mrs. Richardson? Was it the would-be mother seeking a surrogate or the mother seeking to keep an abandoned child after the biological mother wants her back? Does the mother who abandons her child retain any rights? The meddling of others, the lies told and the secrets kept continue to come back to haunt many of the characters, but they are resilient and seem to find ways to adjust.
One parent taught with compassion and by example, not always good ones, and the other seemed impetuous, rushing to judgment and meting out acts of retribution. The children learned from those parents, imitating their behavior. The Richardson children learned self-confidence, but they also learned to be arrogant and to feel entitled, entitled to what they possessed and to use others to serve their needs. Pearl Warren, on the other hand, learned patience and consideration from her mother. She learned to appreciate and accept what little she had, but was amazed and enthralled by how the Richardson’s lived. Although Pearl’s life of a drifter seemed the more unstable than the structured life of the Richardson’s, was it really less stable or was it actually more enduring and flexible?
The paramount idea of breaking out of one’s “box” and beginning again, seemed to work for all of the characters with minimal repercussions. The book intensely examines motherhood, with regard to surrogacy and biology, the idea of giving up a child, losing a child and the rights to a child is dissected. Family values with regard to class, culture, wealth, poverty, parental influence and legal rights and the bubbles within which we all live are explored. Behavior, often illegal, seems to be encouraged in some ways, and I found that confounding. Did the book bite off more than it could chew? Are there too many social issues introduced? In an attempt to be progressive and open minded has common sense sometimes flown out the window. show less
If I had to use one word to summarize this book, I would use motherhood, motherhood in all of its possible definitions. What does it mean to be a mother? What makes a good mother? Who has the right to decide what is or who is a good mother? Who has the right to decide the timing for motherhood?
The story has several interesting female characters. One, Elena. Richardson, basically unconsciously, picked mercilessly on her last born child, daughter Izzy, because she was afraid she would suffer from health issues as she grew up. She was premature, and the doctor had warned her of possible repercussions in her future. Her overly critical treatment of the child hurt her show more emotionally. Her other children were self-confident, privileged and a bit irresponsible, assuming everyone lived in the comfortable way that they did. Mrs. Richardson (Elena) can be described as a creature of habit and structure. She expects others she has been kind to, to return the favor. She is a bit of a good-natured busybody. Therefore, one has to wonder if her intent is truly kind. She has been a local reporter for a small neighborhood paper for years and would like a good story to help her break out into real journalism. The Richardson’s live with material excess, what today is called “white privilege”. Is that a fair term of description?.
Mia is unconventional and her mothering is as well. In her youth, struggling to pay for her education in photography, Mia agreed to be a surrogate mother, but, instead, after a change of heart, she ran away and kept the baby, named Pearl. She continued to run for the rest of her life to avoid dealing with what she had done. Her parents rejected her because they believed she was selling her baby. Was that what she was doing? Mia and Pearl subsist on what she earns from selling her work or from odd jobs. They move when the mood strikes Mia and are not attached to material possessions. They live minimally.
Mrs. Riley wanted a surrogate mother to bear a child for her, one that looked like her. She and her husband had the wherewithal to pay someone to have a baby for them. Should that contract be binding legally and subject to criminal charges if broken?
Mrs. McCullough could not conceive a child. She had had several miscarriages. She and her husband desperately wanted a baby. Many attempts at adoption had been unsuccessful, until, one day, they were offered an abandoned child to adopt. What happens if the biological mother shows up and wants that baby back? Who should raise that child? Who is the rightful mother?
Bebe, a Chinese immigrant, is impoverished. She abandoned her baby because she could not afford to care for her when she was abandoned by the father. Her English was poor and she was unable to care for the child properly, although she tried her best. Did she do the right thing? Was it criminal? Did she give up her rights to the child in the future?
Lexi is a teenager who engaged in unprotected sex and decided to have an abortion when she discovered she was pregnant. She was supposed to go to Yale and the baby would have negatively impacted the lives of herself and her boyfriend. She wondered, did she make the right decision? Should she have discussed it with her boyfriend? Did he have the right to know? Did her mother have the right to know? Should she, as the adult and guardian have been consulted? Will Lexi carry that decision with her for the remainder of her life, always wondering if it was right or wrong?
For me, the title holds several meanings. One would pertain to an actual fire, one would pertain to creativity, coming up with a new idea, and one would pertain to the idea of encouragement, to figuratively lighting a fire underneath someone to propel them into action. This book, explores those ideas with regard to motherhood and life, in general, through the experiences of the characters. It also exposes the different ideas that define all types of motherhood. Should class, status, social standing, culture or ethnicity influence any of the choices regarding motherhood, behavior and rights?
The story takes place in the community of Shaker Heights, an affluent community in Cleveland, Ohio. It is essentially a bubble filled with similar people who have similar goals of upward mobility. The Richardson family lives there. Mia and Pearl Warren arrive there looking for a suitable community to settle in with good schools and a safe environment. Mia has decided that Pearl would benefit from a less nomadic life. They rent an apartment from the Richardson’s. They live in a minimalist way while the Richardson’s live with obvious abundance. The Richardson’s and the Warner’s learn about and react to each other’s way of life.
Moody Richardson and Pearl Warren are high school sophomores. They become fast friends as they are the same age and are in many of the same classes in school. Pearl loves her new home and also becomes friends with Lexi Richardson who is a senior. When she meets Trip Richardson, a junior, a romance develops. Izzy, is the youngest Richardson child who has always been singled out as a troublemaker by her mom, and so she has subsequently taken on that persona of a troublemaker. She becomes close to Mia Warren who opens up her mind to being less rebellious. She is kind to her and accepts her as she is, but her advice is often ill thought out. Izzy remains “a loose cannon”.
The ideas of abortion and unwanted pregnancies are examined along with the idea of who is the real or true mother in a custody battle between a parent who abandoned her child and the parent who hopes to adopt the child, the surrogate or the one engaging her. What rights does a surrogate mother have when she signs an agreement to deliver the child to the family? Which idea of parenting is more beneficial to children, the structured or unstructured approach? When an underage female has an abortion, who should decide whether or not it is appropriate, who should counsel her?
Each of the female characters in the book engages in behavior that is not always by the book, ethical or even legal. Yet they all seem to get away with pushing the envelope. The person who behaves least responsibly seems to come out the winner, in the end, although that irresponsible behavior was the catalyst that caused many catastrophes that can not be reversed. I wondered why that has become acceptable behavior. I wondered, also, who was the greater villain of the mothers featured. Was it the busybody Mia, who chose her nomadic life over her daughter’s need for structure, or the busybody Mrs. Richardson? Was it the would-be mother seeking a surrogate or the mother seeking to keep an abandoned child after the biological mother wants her back? Does the mother who abandons her child retain any rights? The meddling of others, the lies told and the secrets kept continue to come back to haunt many of the characters, but they are resilient and seem to find ways to adjust.
One parent taught with compassion and by example, not always good ones, and the other seemed impetuous, rushing to judgment and meting out acts of retribution. The children learned from those parents, imitating their behavior. The Richardson children learned self-confidence, but they also learned to be arrogant and to feel entitled, entitled to what they possessed and to use others to serve their needs. Pearl Warren, on the other hand, learned patience and consideration from her mother. She learned to appreciate and accept what little she had, but was amazed and enthralled by how the Richardson’s lived. Although Pearl’s life of a drifter seemed the more unstable than the structured life of the Richardson’s, was it really less stable or was it actually more enduring and flexible?
The paramount idea of breaking out of one’s “box” and beginning again, seemed to work for all of the characters with minimal repercussions. The book intensely examines motherhood, with regard to surrogacy and biology, the idea of giving up a child, losing a child and the rights to a child is dissected. Family values with regard to class, culture, wealth, poverty, parental influence and legal rights and the bubbles within which we all live are explored. Behavior, often illegal, seems to be encouraged in some ways, and I found that confounding. Did the book bite off more than it could chew? Are there too many social issues introduced? In an attempt to be progressive and open minded has common sense sometimes flown out the window. show less
This novel opens at the end of the story, with the Richardson family contemplating the smoldering ruins of their house in Shaker Heights, Ohio. “‘The firemen said there were little fires everywhere,’ one of the Richardson kids said to the others. ‘Multiple points of origin. Possible use of accelerant. Not an accident.’” The rest of the book explains what led to the fire, and what was the double meaning of “little fires everywhere.”
There is a somewhat long epigraph at the beginning of the book, but it explains a great deal:
“Actually, though, all things considered, people from Shaker Heights are basically pretty much like people everywhere else in America. They may have three or four cars instead of one or two, and they show more may two television sets instead of one, and when a Shaker Heights girl gets married she may have a reception for eight hundred, with band flown in from New York, instead of a wedding reception for a hundred with a local band, but these are all differences of degree rather than fundamental differences.” Cosmopolitan, March 1963
This very amusing and ironic passage is reminiscent of the US Magazine feature: “Movie Stars: They’re just like us!” (They go to Starbucks! They shop for groceries! They have babies!)
But in fact, the 1% are not just like us, but it is hard for them to see that fact. When a white male walks into a room full of other white males, he gets no sense what it must be like to enter that same room as a black male, or a female of any color. He generally has a sense of comfort, not of difference or even potential threat. Similarly, the denizens of Shaker Heights have a blindness to privilege and a worldview that bestows an easy confidence on those who have never known what it is like to be free from want or prejudice. As Pearl, a tenant of the family’s, wonders in awe:
“Where did this ease come from? How could they be so at home, so sure of themselves, even in pajamas?”
There is a cost, however, to living like this. There are “rules” in Shaker Heights, both those imposed by the community and those internalized by the inhabitants.
Some of those in this rich milieu feel constraints, even if they don’t lack confidence and the sense of owning the world that being in the upper 1% can confer. One constraint is noblesse oblige, or the idea of a responsibility to act with generosity and nobility toward those less privileged - that is, as long as it (a) makes the privileged person feel good and (b) doesn’t really inconvenience the privileged person. A second constraint is the one that keeps Elena Richardson, the matriarch of this family, in a metaphorical cage. Elena always feels she must maintain control over appetites and emotions. She monitors what she eats, what she wears, and what she feels: “All her life, she had learned that passion, like fire, was a dangerous thing. It so easily went out of control.”
The Richardsons own a rental house in a less prosperous part of Shaker Heights, one of a long line of duplexes. When Elena Richardson meets her new tenants, Mia Warren, 36 and her daughter Pearl, 15, she is both fascinated and envious. Mia is an artist, and works at menial, odd jobs only just enough to allow her to buy supplies and time to dedicate to her photography. Mia doesn’t care if they don’t have a lot of possessions or amenities, and worst of all to Elena, seems happy in spite of it. Elena thinks about Mia: “You can’t just do what you want… Why should Mia get to, when no one else did?"
Indeed, Mia is the opposite of Elena in many ways. Elena grew up in Shaker Heights, and always wanted to return:
“She had had a plan, from girlhood on, and had followed it scrupulously: high school, college, boyfriend, marriage, job, mortgage, children. … She had, in short, done everything right and she had built a good life, the kind of life she wanted, the kind of life everyone wanted."
Although, not "everyone" as it turns out: it was not the kind of life Mia wants, and her very existence challenges everything Elena has been brought up to value.
But Pearl is not like Mia either. She wants some stability for a change, and with the Richardson kids, she finds friendship and first love. She spends more and more time at the Richardson’s. She is friends with both 15-year-old Moody and 18-year-old Lexie, and has a crush on 17-year-old Trip. In addition, she basks in the differences she observes between her off-beat existence and the Richardson’s predictable, comfortable, and easy life of affluence.
Meanwhile, fourteen-year-old Izzy, Elena’s youngest daughter, finds a mother in Mia she never had at home. Izzy and her mother have a destructive relationship, originating before Izzy was even born. The pregnancy was not risk-free, nor was Izzy out of danger after birth. Elena saw Izzy, who never - even before birth, followed the pattern Elena expected, as consistently causing trouble for her. The three older kids knew their mother always seemed to have it in for Izzy, but the reasons were unclear to them. After a while, there was an unbreakable dynamic, with Elena criticizing and Izzy reacting:
“Of course, the more Izzy pushed, the more anger stepped in to shield her mother’s old anxiety, like a shell covering a snail. ‘My god, Izzy,’ Mrs. Richardson said, over and over again, ‘what is wrong with you?’”
Elena is consistently nasty to Izzy. Mia, on the other hand, is welcoming and nurturing.
So a main theme of the book is: what makes someone a mother? What is best for a child? A biological mother, or someone who can give the child what he or she needs? The links between Pearl and the Richardsons, and between Izzy and Mia, are mirrored in the main source of gossip and upheaval in Shaker Heights, involving the McCullough family.
Linda McCullough (a friend of Elena’s), and her husband Mark, couldn’t have children. They had been trying to adopt, and got a call from the fire station that an Asian baby, “May Ling,” was left there. Linda went all out to welcome the newly renamed “Mirabelle McCullough.” All is going well for Linda until Mia figures out that the baby was left by one of her restaurant co-workers, Bebe Chow. Bebe was desperate to get her baby back, and Mia tells Bebe where May Ling is. Before long, a custody battle ensues. The whole neighborhood gets involved in a discussion over which woman would be the best mother for the baby.
Part of the issue is the cultural heritage of the baby. When Bebe’s lawyer questions Linda about how she will teach the child about Chinese culture, Linda, with perfect cluelessness and convinced in any event of the superiority of her own culture, says she will take Mirabelle to Chinese restaurants.
Elena, also incognizant about the racism that informs her opinions, is adamant that the wealthy white families of Shaker Heights offer advantages the Asian biological mother could not: “Honestly, I think this is a tremendous thing for Mirabelle. She’ll be raised in a home that truly doesn’t see race. That doesn’t care, not one infinitesimal bit, what she looks like. What could be better than that?”
As the case drags on without the expected easy resolution in favor of the McCulloughs, Elena becomes increasingly angry at Mia and obsessively determined to exact revenge on her friend’s behalf. But actually, there is more to it:
“She would never admit even to herself that it hadn’t been about the baby at all: it had been some complicated thing about Mia herself, the dark discomfort this woman stirred up that Mrs. Richardson would have much preferred to have kept in its box.”
Elena uses her skills and contacts as a reporter for the local paper to dig up dirt on Mia, and before long, her vendetta both creates and reveals “little fires everywhere.” Together, the "fires" combine to burn down the Richardson house, both in fact and in metaphor.
Discussion: Although this is an excellent book, I had trouble sticking with it only because I loathed Elena Richardson so thoroughly. But that was certainly by the author's design. And while I never had any sympathy for Elena, the author does an excellent job shading most of the other characters - especially the kids, with both good and bad overtones.
The story raises many questions that will engage readers. Motherhood and family are treated as concepts as well as biological accidents, and that treatment suggests that with whom we should share our lives with is more nuanced than just a question of birth. The conventions of social conformity and the blind spots of privilege are also interrogated in this story. The role of preconceptions in structuring our understanding of “truth” - especially relevant in these times - also plays a role. Finally, the almost Shakespearean treatment of envy as a motivator and destroyer of lives runs through the story like, well, an accelerant in a fire.
Evaluation: This is an absorbing story with so many layers and questions that it would be an outstanding choice for bookclubs. show less
There is a somewhat long epigraph at the beginning of the book, but it explains a great deal:
“Actually, though, all things considered, people from Shaker Heights are basically pretty much like people everywhere else in America. They may have three or four cars instead of one or two, and they show more may two television sets instead of one, and when a Shaker Heights girl gets married she may have a reception for eight hundred, with band flown in from New York, instead of a wedding reception for a hundred with a local band, but these are all differences of degree rather than fundamental differences.” Cosmopolitan, March 1963
This very amusing and ironic passage is reminiscent of the US Magazine feature: “Movie Stars: They’re just like us!” (They go to Starbucks! They shop for groceries! They have babies!)
But in fact, the 1% are not just like us, but it is hard for them to see that fact. When a white male walks into a room full of other white males, he gets no sense what it must be like to enter that same room as a black male, or a female of any color. He generally has a sense of comfort, not of difference or even potential threat. Similarly, the denizens of Shaker Heights have a blindness to privilege and a worldview that bestows an easy confidence on those who have never known what it is like to be free from want or prejudice. As Pearl, a tenant of the family’s, wonders in awe:
“Where did this ease come from? How could they be so at home, so sure of themselves, even in pajamas?”
There is a cost, however, to living like this. There are “rules” in Shaker Heights, both those imposed by the community and those internalized by the inhabitants.
Some of those in this rich milieu feel constraints, even if they don’t lack confidence and the sense of owning the world that being in the upper 1% can confer. One constraint is noblesse oblige, or the idea of a responsibility to act with generosity and nobility toward those less privileged - that is, as long as it (a) makes the privileged person feel good and (b) doesn’t really inconvenience the privileged person. A second constraint is the one that keeps Elena Richardson, the matriarch of this family, in a metaphorical cage. Elena always feels she must maintain control over appetites and emotions. She monitors what she eats, what she wears, and what she feels: “All her life, she had learned that passion, like fire, was a dangerous thing. It so easily went out of control.”
The Richardsons own a rental house in a less prosperous part of Shaker Heights, one of a long line of duplexes. When Elena Richardson meets her new tenants, Mia Warren, 36 and her daughter Pearl, 15, she is both fascinated and envious. Mia is an artist, and works at menial, odd jobs only just enough to allow her to buy supplies and time to dedicate to her photography. Mia doesn’t care if they don’t have a lot of possessions or amenities, and worst of all to Elena, seems happy in spite of it. Elena thinks about Mia: “You can’t just do what you want… Why should Mia get to, when no one else did?"
Indeed, Mia is the opposite of Elena in many ways. Elena grew up in Shaker Heights, and always wanted to return:
“She had had a plan, from girlhood on, and had followed it scrupulously: high school, college, boyfriend, marriage, job, mortgage, children. … She had, in short, done everything right and she had built a good life, the kind of life she wanted, the kind of life everyone wanted."
Although, not "everyone" as it turns out: it was not the kind of life Mia wants, and her very existence challenges everything Elena has been brought up to value.
But Pearl is not like Mia either. She wants some stability for a change, and with the Richardson kids, she finds friendship and first love. She spends more and more time at the Richardson’s. She is friends with both 15-year-old Moody and 18-year-old Lexie, and has a crush on 17-year-old Trip. In addition, she basks in the differences she observes between her off-beat existence and the Richardson’s predictable, comfortable, and easy life of affluence.
Meanwhile, fourteen-year-old Izzy, Elena’s youngest daughter, finds a mother in Mia she never had at home. Izzy and her mother have a destructive relationship, originating before Izzy was even born. The pregnancy was not risk-free, nor was Izzy out of danger after birth. Elena saw Izzy, who never - even before birth, followed the pattern Elena expected, as consistently causing trouble for her. The three older kids knew their mother always seemed to have it in for Izzy, but the reasons were unclear to them. After a while, there was an unbreakable dynamic, with Elena criticizing and Izzy reacting:
“Of course, the more Izzy pushed, the more anger stepped in to shield her mother’s old anxiety, like a shell covering a snail. ‘My god, Izzy,’ Mrs. Richardson said, over and over again, ‘what is wrong with you?’”
Elena is consistently nasty to Izzy. Mia, on the other hand, is welcoming and nurturing.
So a main theme of the book is: what makes someone a mother? What is best for a child? A biological mother, or someone who can give the child what he or she needs? The links between Pearl and the Richardsons, and between Izzy and Mia, are mirrored in the main source of gossip and upheaval in Shaker Heights, involving the McCullough family.
Linda McCullough (a friend of Elena’s), and her husband Mark, couldn’t have children. They had been trying to adopt, and got a call from the fire station that an Asian baby, “May Ling,” was left there. Linda went all out to welcome the newly renamed “Mirabelle McCullough.” All is going well for Linda until Mia figures out that the baby was left by one of her restaurant co-workers, Bebe Chow. Bebe was desperate to get her baby back, and Mia tells Bebe where May Ling is. Before long, a custody battle ensues. The whole neighborhood gets involved in a discussion over which woman would be the best mother for the baby.
Part of the issue is the cultural heritage of the baby. When Bebe’s lawyer questions Linda about how she will teach the child about Chinese culture, Linda, with perfect cluelessness and convinced in any event of the superiority of her own culture, says she will take Mirabelle to Chinese restaurants.
Elena, also incognizant about the racism that informs her opinions, is adamant that the wealthy white families of Shaker Heights offer advantages the Asian biological mother could not: “Honestly, I think this is a tremendous thing for Mirabelle. She’ll be raised in a home that truly doesn’t see race. That doesn’t care, not one infinitesimal bit, what she looks like. What could be better than that?”
As the case drags on without the expected easy resolution in favor of the McCulloughs, Elena becomes increasingly angry at Mia and obsessively determined to exact revenge on her friend’s behalf. But actually, there is more to it:
“She would never admit even to herself that it hadn’t been about the baby at all: it had been some complicated thing about Mia herself, the dark discomfort this woman stirred up that Mrs. Richardson would have much preferred to have kept in its box.”
Elena uses her skills and contacts as a reporter for the local paper to dig up dirt on Mia, and before long, her vendetta both creates and reveals “little fires everywhere.” Together, the "fires" combine to burn down the Richardson house, both in fact and in metaphor.
Discussion: Although this is an excellent book, I had trouble sticking with it only because I loathed Elena Richardson so thoroughly. But that was certainly by the author's design. And while I never had any sympathy for Elena, the author does an excellent job shading most of the other characters - especially the kids, with both good and bad overtones.
The story raises many questions that will engage readers. Motherhood and family are treated as concepts as well as biological accidents, and that treatment suggests that with whom we should share our lives with is more nuanced than just a question of birth. The conventions of social conformity and the blind spots of privilege are also interrogated in this story. The role of preconceptions in structuring our understanding of “truth” - especially relevant in these times - also plays a role. Finally, the almost Shakespearean treatment of envy as a motivator and destroyer of lives runs through the story like, well, an accelerant in a fire.
Evaluation: This is an absorbing story with so many layers and questions that it would be an outstanding choice for bookclubs. show less
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Author Information
14+ Works 22,148 Members
Celeste Ng was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She attended Harvard University and studied English. She went on to graduate school at the University of Michigan and earned her Master's of Fine Arts in writing. While attending the University of Michigan, Ng won the Hopwood Award for her short story, What Passes show more Over. Ng was a recipient of a Pushcart Prize in 2012 for her story Girls, At Play. Her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You: A Novel, is a literary thriller that focuses on an American family in 1970s Ohio. This book won Amazon book of the Year in 2014. Little Fires Everywhere is her second novel, published in September 2017. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Amazon.com Best Books (Top 20 – 2017)
The Guardian Book of the Day (2017-11-18)
Reese's Book Club (2017-09 – 2017)
Notable Lists
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Contemporánea [Alba] (31)
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Little Fires Everywhere
- Original title
- Little Fires Everywhere
- Original publication date
- 2017-09-12
- People/Characters
- Elena Richardson; Mia Warren (Mia Wright); Pearl Warren; Alexandra "Lexie" Grace Richardson; Trip Richardson; Michael "Moody" Richardson (show all 27); Isabelle "Izzy" Marie Richardson; Bill Richardson; Mirabelle Rose McCullough (May Ling Chow); Linda McCullough; Mark McCullough; Bebe Chow; Serena Wong; Brian Avery; Regina Wright; George Wright; Warren Wright; Mr. Wilkinson; Della Wilkinson; Pauline Hawthorne; Mal; Joseph Ryan; Madeline Ryan; Anita Rees; Mrs. Delaney; Ed Lim; Elizabeth Manwill
- Important places
- Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA; Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, USA; New York School of Fine Arts; New York, New York, USA; San Francisco, California, USA; Winslow Road, Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA
- Related movies
- Little Fires Everywhere (2020 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Whether you buy a homesite in the School Section, broad acres in the Shaker Country Estates, or one of the houses offered by this company in a choice of neighborhoods, your purchase includes facilities for golf, riding, tenni... (show all)s, boating; it includes in unexcelled schools; it includes protection forever against depreciation and unwelcome change.
---Advertisement, The Van Sweringen Company,
Creators and Developers of a Shaker Village
Actually, though, all things considered, people from Shaker Heights are pretty much like people everywhere else in America. They may have three or four cars instead of one or two, and they may have two television sets instead... (show all) of one, and when a Shaker Heights girl gets married she may have a reception for eight hundred, with the Meyer Davis band flown in from New York, instead of a wedding reception for a hundred with a local band, but these are all differences of degree rather than fundamental differences. "We're friendly people and we have a wonderful time!" Said a woman at the Shaker Heights Country Club recently, and she was right, for the inhabitants of Utopia do, in fact, appear to lead a rather happy life.
---"The Good Life in Shaker Heights," Cosmopolitan, March 1963 - Dedication
- To those out on their own paths, setting little fires
- First words
- Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.
- Quotations
- Remember, Mia had said: 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's are like that, too. They start over. &nbs... (show all)p;They find a way.
"Some pictures, " Mia said, " belong to the person who took them. And some belong to the person inside them...."
Every bedroom was empty except for the smell of gasoline and a small crackling fire set directly in the middle of each bed, as if a demented Girl Scout had been camping there. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)She would spend months, years, the rest of her life looking for her daughter, searching the face of every young woman she met for as long as it took, searching for a spark of familiarity in the faces of strangers.
- Publisher's editor
- Younce, Virginia Smith
- Blurbers
- Picoult, Jodi; Wolitzer, Meg; Davies, Peter Ho; Alam, Rumaan; Jacob, Mira; McMillan, Terry (show all 9); Hill, Joe; Wilson, Kevin; Hawkins, Paula
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PS3614.G83
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