Little Fires Everywhere is a well-hyped book with a slew of positive reviews and (maybe most importantly in the pop culture world) an impending adaptation produced by Reese Witherspoon (whom we can thank for the brilliance of Big Little Lies coming to life) and Kerry Washington. It's hard not to let the hype sully your opinions in a situation like this.
I'll admit that I struggled getting into the story at first. It's a slow burn, at least in the beginning, with Celeste Ng introducing us to the Richardsons and the Warrens in enough detail so that the reader will be truly engaged when secrets start to unravel and tensions start to rise.
LFE takes place in Shaker Heights, Ohio in the late 90s. Shaker Heights is one of the first planned communities, a place dedicated to perfection. If everything has been planned, nothing can go wrong. It's an interesting concept and something that was strictly adhered to from it's start. Even though Mia and her daughter Pearl live on less money than most and have spent their lives moving around, they secure an apartment from Elena Richardson, who still owns some property passed down from their family. Mia and Pearl might be in the lower ebb, but even the lower ebb is respectable in Shaker Heights.
It is because Elena owns the place that Pearl meets one of her sons, Moody. That leads to Pearl's slight obsession with the Richardson family, and she spends most of her days at their house, a place with roots like she's never known. They accept her easily, and she becomes friends with all of the Richardson kids.
Tensions rise when a family friend of the Richardsons is thrust into a custody battle over the Chinese-American baby they have been preparing to adopt. The whole town is in conflict over who should get the baby: the McCulloughs, who are well off and can provide the girl with a two-parent home, or Bebe, the birth mother who, in a state of fear, panic, and poverty left the baby at a fire station.
I can't get over how vivid this book was to me. Ng's writing completely captured me, and I felt as though I was in the room with these people. Not to mention that the characters are so dimensional and yet, much like real life, we never fully know them.
I truly don't know what to say, because this book was just utterly fantastic. It was well-written, yes, but it also captured my mind and heart in indelible ways.
Final Thoughts
Whether you're looking for your next book club pick or you just want to feel something, I recommend this book to all. It's a thinker, but it's also genuinely enjoyable with incredible writing and an excellent observation of motherhood, race, and class.
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