Little Fires Everywhere: Reese's Book Club

I borrowed this from my library for a book club. This book is shrewd look at a progressive, predominantly white Ohio suburb in the late 1990s. It becomes a study of character, all revolving around the theme of motherhood. Much of the plot, however, is transparent fairly early on.

Think I liked her first novel better, but this was another entertaining family drama examining the dynamics of race/class.

Disturbing.

This story has lots of wonderful elements.

A two-family drama set in Cleveland, Ohio. Elena and Paul Richardson are a married couple with four children, one year apart, living in a wealthy suburban planned community. They own another property, occupied by Mia Warren. She is a single mother of Pearl. She takes multiple jobs to supplement her income from sales of her art. Pearl becomes friends with the Richardson siblings. The majority of the plot is set in the mid-1990s, when the kids are in high school. The story opens with a house on fire, and the plot goes backward and forward in time to provide the backstories of the characters and the reasons for the fire.

Positives: It is nicely written. I felt engaged enough to finish it even though I did not care much for the plot (see drawbacks). I enjoyed the artistic sections about photography and other creative projects. The audio book is brilliantly performed by Jennifer Lim (5 stars for the audio).

Drawbacks: The plot is too outlandish for me, especially one particular plotline in Mia’s background (which I will not mention since it would be a spoiler). Much of the narrative is spent on teenage melodrama. There are many unrealistic episodes. Suffice it to say I rolled my eyes a number of times.

The narrative attempts to address socially relevant issues – teenage pregnancy, adoption, abortion, child abandonment, surrogacy, and overprotection. Unfortunately, the treatment of these issues leaves something to be desired. I realize I am in the minority, but this book just did not work well for me. I much preferred and recommend Everything I Never Told You.

The Richardson's are well-to do parents with careers outside their home in Ohio.. He as a lawyer and she as a journalist. They have four teenage children. They own another property which they end up renting out to a single mother, who is an artist and she becomes their housekeeper. The children are very involved in school activities. Moody the third child,becomes close friends with Pearl, their housekeeper's daughter. Pearl spends a lot of time with the Richardson kids and becomes important to each of the children in her own way.

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!!!

Struggling on four or five stars. I read this character study for a book club I am part of. We were asked to read this month something focused on mothers or motherhood. Good reviews solidified my decision, and I am glad I did read it.

You start with a fire, and then spend the rest of the book on the characters and their stories building towards the fire. The place is Shaker Heights in 1997. Several mothers and their relationships with each other and their children build towards the climax.

Writing and plot are solid. Characters are filled out nicely, but a few were lacking in time for their stories. In the end, Ng deserves the accolades she received for this novel.

It is one of the most beautiful novels I have read. (Translated from Spanish)

Omg, this book is so good! Highly recommended. It’s a masterful telling of a story that is so very personal and yet universal. Loved it from start to finish.

Slow at parts but a beautifully told story.

All of the characters were so real and so deeply dimensional. Their situations felt like they could happen to anyone.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the way the story line wasn’t very linear, it felt a little disjointed to me, but all in all I loved it.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

2017
audiobook, fiction

Is there a perfect neighborhood where everyone is happy and living the idyllic life? If you asked Mrs. Richardson she would brag about Shaker Heights where she grew up and raised her own family. It is no surprise that she thrives as a writer for the local newspaper given her propensity to manipulate others for her own benefit. She justifies her actions by convincing herself she’s helping a greater cause, those she deemed as less fortunate.

Little Fires Everywhere introduces us to Mrs. Richardson standing outside in her bathrobe in the middle of the afternoon. If she hadn’t been awake so late interfering in her neighbors’ business she wouldn’t allowed herself to sleep late. She awoke suddenly to the sound of fire engines and made it outside in time to watch her house on Parkland erupt in flames.

Mrs.Richardson begins to resent the tenants renting the upper level of her inherited duplex on Winslow Road. It isn’t long before Mia Warren, a 36-year-old single mother to 15-year-old Pearl, realizes the “rules” of living in Shaker Heights. The Warren family have lived a rather vagabond lifestyle attributing it to her work as a struggling artist. Pearl has always adjusted to each new place finally feeling settled in Shaker Heights.

Initially, Pearl and Moody become friends when they realize they are in the same high school classes. Soon, she is welcomed into the Richardson’s family like a second home to Pearl. Sometimes it’s the differences which attract people to each other. The hypocrisy and judgements of others have a way of circling back. The characters are carefully developed with truths and lies being slowly uncovered as the story unfolds.

The story is thoughtful, rich with substance leaving the reader in deep contemplation about the lasting effects of our decisions and resulting consequences.

This book begins at the ending: Mia and her daughter Pearl have fled; teenager Izzy Richardson has set multiple arson fires in her family home. And so the story unfolds:

Elena Richardson appears to have the perfect life. She lives with her husband and four children in an upscale, tightly regulated suburb of an Ohio town. The kids all attend prestigious schools and have their lives mapped out for success. All that is except the youngest daughter, Izzy, who is a bit of a concern.

Then Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl rent a small house owned by Elena. Mia is the antithesis of everything Elena embraces. Mia is a photographic artist, staying in one place only until a project is completed and then moves on. She has no wish to have the regulated lifestyle Elena embraces.

Youngest Richardson daughter Izzy is drawn to the Bohemian lifestyle of Mia and Pearl. Mia, becomes a very part time housekeeper to the Richardsons. Mia, Pearl and the Richardson children become entwined.

With two such opposite families, ‘the center cannot hold’ as the poet says. Eventually they find themselves on opposite sides of a community controversy involving the adoption of Asian American baby. And one of the Richardson daughters needs help in a way she cannot possibly turn to her mother.

Elena Richardson believes the way to put her family back together again is to find out what secrets Mia Warren is hiding – what drives her to pick up and disappear again and again.

The characters are wonderfully realized. Ms Ng sympathetically reveals both sides of various controversies and why characters act and react the way they do.

I really enjoyed this novel. I can’t help wondering, though, if this falls into a ‘women’s lit’ category. All of the major themes – the fierceness of motherhood, children, pregnancy, surrogacy, abortion, young love, and even what one reviewer calls ‘the tendency of women to police each other’- while certainly involving men, are of more interest to women. I’d love to see some reviews by men and how they felt about this story.

This was the first I have read by Celeste Ng; I am interested in reading more.

A good read. While it took a bit to get started for me, I appreciated how it all came together. It was set in the late 90s and was a very good portrait of the mid-west during that time. I thought the author did a good job allowing you to understand and sympathize with characters on both sides of several conflicts.

I read this book when it first was published, and enjoyed it, for I gave it 4 and a half stars, but didn't write a review. I just reread it for my bookclub, and still thought it was a great story. It is confusing at first. I loved the portrayal of Shaker Heights, the planned, progressive community where appearances matter most. The main characters are the Richardson's: Elena, the mother, and children Trip, Lexie, Moody and Izzy. And on the opposite side: Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl, who rent an apartment from the Richardsons, and become entwined in their lives. The Richardsons have a mostly picture perfect life, where the parents are wealthy and successful, and the children all above average, except for the youngest, Izzy, who is the problem child. Mia, a photographer, and her bright daughter Pearl, move from place to place every time Mia finishes a photography project. They subsist on very little, taking only what they can carry in their aged VW Rabbit each time they move on. And why do they keep on moving? The explanation unfolds slowly. But Mia and Pearl become intimately entwined with the Richardsons' lives, as Pearl befriends the Richardson children, and Mia is hired as cook and housekeeper at the Richardsons.

Motherhood, and what makes a good mother, is a central theme of this book. There is a subplot involving an abandoned Asian baby, an adoptive rich white couple, and the baby's mother, who wants the baby back. There is a court case that causes a rift between the Warrens and the Richardsons. There is a lot to discuss in this book, and I expect we'll have a good discussion. The thing that I have a hard time with in this book is Mia and Pearl's wandering life. I guess I cannot imagine people living this way, so it doesn't seem realistic to me.

I'm not sure I know what Ng's intent was when writing this book, but suffice to say that I didn't really find any of the characters particularly redeeming by the end of the novel. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing - I actually quite enjoy characters I can love to hate.

At the start of the novel it seems that we are going to have the same stereotypical argument of what kind of household is better - the cookie cutter, suburban, affluent; or the artistic, loose, edge of poverty? That gives the novel a rather slow start. I'm not really all that interested in re-hashing the same old character arcs over again. Give Ng a bit of time though and she subsequently turns all of that on it's head. Elena, our cookie cutter suburban Mom is really holding on to the anxiety of a tough pregnancy and early delivery of her youngest child and instead of dealing with the trauma, takes it out on her daughter by being both protective and judgemental of her daughter's "free" spirit. Perhaps this is also an expression of the regret she holds for not unleashing her own free-spiritedness and instead holding back and choosing a live of luxury, routine and predictability.

Mia is presented to us a starving artist type, with abounding love for her daughter where they are lacking in possessions. We are led to believe that Mia could be rich and famous - but chooses instead not to be. She is emotionally unavailable, secretive and can't stay put. It isn't until she tries to help her friend and coworker regain custody of the child she abandoned (underfed and dirty) at a fire station. We then learn her truth - which I won't spoil here but trust me that it will set you on the edge of your seat for the remainder of the novel.

The children are varying levels of idealistic, but none have any redeeming qualities. Izzy, a true fireball is presented as misunderstood, angry at the world and in need of poetic justice. The way she goes about achieving such justice however... probably not the best choice. Pearl on the other side of the coin is small, shy, and mousy - I honestly don't think she ever stands up for herself or even tries to have her own opinion on anything, she blindly follows those who lead - her mother, Lexie, Moody, Trip...

Moody and Trip are quite boring - the emo kid and the jock, each with their eyes on the same prize - Pearl. And we know how that one ends.

Truly - the only sympathetic characters are the McCullough's - having experienced pregnancy loss myself I can only imagine the agony of finally having a baby in your arms only to have it threatened to be taken away. No one deserves that misery.

I know it seems like I am tearing this book apart - but I did really enjoy it. There were a lot of "oh no she did not!" moments, which I love. Also a lot of anticipation in how the discovery of all these secrets would impact the others. Unfortunately it did feel like many of the little fires fizzled out before they could become the blazes they were intended to be, and I was left feeling as if I didn't get quite the ending I was hoping for.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is a beautifully written and thought-provoking novel that explores the themes of motherhood, race, class, and the American dream. The story follows two families who come together in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a seemingly perfect town where everyone is white, wealthy, and well-educated. The Richardsons are the picture of perfection, with a successful husband and wife, two teenage daughters and two sons, and a beautiful home. The Warrens are a single mother and her teenage daughter, who have just moved to town. Mia is a talented artist, but she is also struggling to make ends meet.

The two families are initially drawn together by their children, who become friends. But as the novel progresses, the families begin to clash over their different values and beliefs. The Richardsons are traditional and conservative, while the Warrens are more liberal and unconventional. The two families also represent different sides of the American dream. The Richardsons have achieved the American dream through hard work and sacrifice, while the Warrens are still striving for it.

As the novel builds to a climax, the two families are forced to confront their own prejudices and biases. The Richardsons must come to terms with their own privilege, while the Warrens must learn to trust the people who have been so quick to judge them. In the end, Little Fires Everywhere is a story about the power of love and the importance of family.

Some things I didn't like that much about the book: the ending was a bit too tidy and the Mia character could have been developed more.

Overall, I really enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere. It is a well-written and thought-provoking novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.

[Disclaimer: I am not very good at writing reviews so I asked Bard, the Google AI, for help]

This book took me almost 2 years to finish. It was soooo slow in the beginning so, I would start, stop, start stop. Then the last 1/2 took me 3 days as that was good and fast-paced.

The more I think about this book the less I can find to recommend about it. It is competently written though rather too long for any content I could find in it, and for what I think should be a character driven plot of connections and conflicts centered on mother-daughter relationships in a new girl(s) in town bring conflict to a settled way of life, the characters are not living breathing creations.

This story could have been written based on any time, in any place.

The tearing apart, breaking apart, and shattering of a family, in the name of domination, autocracy, imposition, and as a weapon for subjugation, is universal history. Especially when it comes to abducting children.

In Celeste's novel, it is merely relocation in a dystopian society desperate for control. More than lost hearts, these are hearts torn away. Racism, segregation, gratuitous violence towards the other, the foreign (in this case, the Chinese), directed from the heights of power to maintain power and control, promoting betrayal born from fear, envy, and selfishness.

Every minute, every day, life unfolds in the world, and not always for perceived reasons.

In the narrative, culture, knowledge, correct information, denunciation, and of course, love are proposed as weapons to confront this rupture, to unite and gather, to allow freedom, foster harmony, and ultimately return to happiness.

In real life, the situation is no different; in both, permissiveness is preceded by the loss of values, honesty, bravery, pride, and as always, there remains a small Pandora's box with a tiny glimmer of hope. In real life, this leads us to the denial of separation as a definitive loss, and in the narrative, to the search and attempt to reintegrate the "relocated" with their families.

NG. It has moved me, it has outraged me, it has put me face to face once again with the infamous situation, or the many situations, that have historically and negatively altered the story of the so-called humanity, which is losing everything in the name of supposed progress…

Let us remember Einstein, I fear the day when technology… etc., etc.

That day arrived long ago and becomes more comfortably established each time. (Translated from Spanish)

Well, I know lots of people loved this. I thought I might. But I'm going to be contrarian and pick it apart.

1) Too many points of view, resulting in several characters who could have been sympathetic, but were just not developed enough for me to care.

2) A classic King Solomon-worthy child custody case with both claims clearly laid out, tempting the reader to take sides, but utterly failing to make me pick a Team. Naturally the judicial outcome could only please one party, and leave the other heartbroken; we were given a hint that the judge struggled with his ruling, but not one word about how he finally came to his decision.

3) A couple potentially likeable teenagers who did not, ultimately, fulfill that potential.

4) an ending that made me say "Really?? You treated your daughter like that because she was so freakin' precious to you???. Really?? Where was that even suggested before?"


I have another quibble, filed under "That's not how that works"--but I'll leave it. (Perhaps I skimmed over something.)

Book club fodder, issue-oriented stuff, maybe a little better than some things that fall into that category--I did want to follow the threads to the end, I admit. But the whole lacked subtlety and was less than satisfying.

Did not get really hooked on it until about half-way, and then I could not stop reading. A contrast between two households, one planned and seemingly ideal in a comfortable community, and one artistic and different. It's not the usual kind of thing I read, but it was really good and keeps you thinking about authenticity and facing reality, motherhood, race, etc.

This was objectively a pretty decent book, but subjectively I just don't care about domestic drama and petty, vindictive scheming. I also very much do not care to read about kids.

So why did I pick this book up in the first place? Mostly because I've had a copy of it from way back when the book first came out and there was all the hype about it on booktube and bookstagram. It also fit a prompt in the #tropeicalreadathon, so.

There's a lot of gossip, and keeping up appearances, and bad parenting (and good parenting), there's commentary on cross-cultural adoption, white saviourism, and "doing good deeds" simply for the sake of being able to pat yourself on the back. All interesting topics (to an extent).

I just didn't care about the story. I didn't care about the characters either (again, maybe because many of them were kids). But I also think Ng's writing style just isn't best suited for me, even though she definitely knows how to write. I felt the same about Everything I Never Told You, some kind of disconnect that keeps me from really feeling for the characters (even the likeable ones.) It's like I'm listening to an inpartial observer telling me what happened, removing all chance for empathy.

Not a bad book, though, and I can see how people would like this. Reminded me a little of Liane Moriarty's books, so if you like those, you might like this too.

This book was amazing. Beautifully written, wonderful character development. Everyone in the story seems so real. The adoption side plot was heart-wrenching. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

(3.5)

Celeste Ng is officially an author I will read anything from. She's that good!

3.25 stars

Photographer Mia and her 15-year old daughter, Pearl, move around a lot. When they rent from the Richardsons, the two families initially seem to get along, especially Pearl with the Richardson’s son, Moody, but also Pearl with the other Richardson kids. Things take a turn when secrets start coming out after the two families become quite entwined.

I listened to the audio. The first half didn’t really catch my attention all that much; it was pretty slow moving as the two families really just got to know one another. It picked up in the second half, though, when a friend of the Richardsons adopted a Chinese baby who had been abandoned (along with a few other storylines as secrets abounded). I really did not like Mia. I’m not sure there were any characters I liked, actually. I would have rated the first half “ok” at 3 stars, and wanted to up it to 3.5 stars due to the second half, but I dropped my rating just a touch as I was very unhappy with one of the things that happened near the end.

While I enjoyed the author's character development, scene setting and how the characters thought, I struggled with determining exactly who the story was really about. I found myself skipping over unnecessary character filler which often went on for pages. So many characters carried the same weight and there were lots of side stories to boot. I felt the ending was left much to the reader-too many loose ends - reminescent of Aarya leaving on the boat in GoT. Usually it is a safe bet to read any book with tens of thousand's of reviews that still has an average rating of 4.0 or higher. Not this time. I do not understand what people liked so much. My rating is: meh.

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, by my estimation, rates three or four stars out of five. I’ll give it four.

It starts out dull, a book about suburban teenagers. I’m an adult; teenagers bore me nowadays. But this book eventually turns out to be about adults, too. So it gets better.

As a matter of fact, it’s hard to say who the main characters are; there are several possibilities. LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE is a mystery told from the points of view of different characters, both teenagers and adults.

Blurbs I read call this book a thriller, but it’s not. I think some people use the words “thriller” and “mystery" interchangeably. LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE is a mystery: Who lit the little fires everywhere? And the phrase ”little fires everywhere" is treated both literally and nonliterally in this book.

The story starts out with the fire, then it’s flashback. Different mysteries go on then, all leading up to the fire.

The flashback begins with Mia and her teenage daughter who come to Shaker Heights, Ohio with all their belongings fit into their VW Rabbit. (There’s another mystery for you: that VW Rabbit is 20 years old, and they’re still driving it cross country. Really?) The landlady of their apartment they settle in also lives in Shaker Heights in a beautiful home and has four teenagers of her own. If I had to pick the main characters, they would be these six people.

Everyone has secrets from one another, and sometimes the secrets are mysteries to the reader, too. Some of the secrets come out and the mysteries are resolved. My criticism of this book, though, is that I had too many questions in the end. At least we learn who lit the little fires everywhere.

In this novel, Ng explores motherhood in all its expressions: wild mothers, perfect mothers, childless mothers, unwitting mothers, struggling mothers... It weaves a good tale with lives intermingling in a compelling and ever-complex web.
While I enjoyed it, I found it was sometimes a little flat. The characters don't evolve, and become stale; some stories are told in detail, leaving little to the reader's imagination; plotlines inevitably become predictable.
It's a good book to while away the winter, but not one that will stay with me.

I'd read this book 4 years ago, but forgot almost everything about it, so all the major plot points were new to me again. You know, I'm a rule follower, and one of the characters is an ultimate rule follower. I dislike mean-daughter characters, and one daughter is not only rebellious but downright mean. The reason I reread the book is that I've heard it mentioned several times recently. It sticks in the public mind because the characters and themes weave everyone together so expertly as they examine topics that, seem to me, can't be resolved.