Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ng (EPUB)

Description

The #1 New York Times bestseller!“Witty, wise, and tender. It’s a marvel.” —Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train and A Slow Fire Burning“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 WitherspoonFrom the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Our Missing Hearts comes 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.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This month in my book club, it was my pick. I have been dying to read Little Fires Everywhere going on a year now – seriously – but just haven’t had the time with review work obligations. I really need to find a better balance of work reading versus pleasure reading, especially as my TBR pile has multiplied to a ridiculous amount, spilling from my bedside table onto my desk, with the excess stacked up in two dangerously tall piles in my library.Little Fires Everywhere did not disappoint. And I’m glad of it, since my pleasure reading time is so precious to me. I’m also always a little nervous when picking a book for my book club. I’d hate to pick a dud (my friend Kelley did one month and we haven’t let her live it down yet, ha ha!) and I’m always conscious of everyone else’s reading preferences. We are a bit of an eclectic mix who fall into several different reading preference categories, but the four of us generally can agree if a book is good or bad. I’ve been waiting on pins and needles to hear if they liked Fires as much as I did and luckily, they enjoyed it nearly as much as I did.This book was . . . well, overall, it was simply a portrait of human character. It carefully and thoughtfully peeled back the layers of the contributing factors give a person their personality, whether it be person, place, thing, or idea. Whether it be setting or circumstance. Time or space. Or all of the above. It detailed the nuances that keep a personality in its place, and what sways a person to make the decisions they make. It got raw, and it got dirty. At times, it was hauntingly real in the way that the author could slice right down the middle of the character’s insecurities and lay them open and bare.Of course, there were some instances where the details got a little too deep and a little too particular. There were so many characters that the back and forth of points of view became a bit tedious, your mind wandering from this person to that. It was hard to get attached to any one character, but in reflection, I wondered if this was the author’s intent. We discussed it in my book club . . . how the characters could sometimes feel a little flat. Again, I argued that perhaps this was the intention all along. Shaker Heights is a real place, and author Celeste Ng grew up there. Was she poking fun at her traditional and ideally flawless little town? This book was not perfect, but it was a page-turner. There was a plethora of winding and twisty turning story-lines constantly weaving in and out of one another, making it feel like you were wrapped up in a daytime soap opera. They nestled into one another like Russian dolls, each character’s path fitting inside the others with flush precision. And the ending . . . well. It was an ending, I can say that much.The town of Shaker Heights is full of little houses made of ticky-tacky, just like the song suggests. The people there are the epitome of cookie-cutter, even in the standard way they strive for diversity and range. Everything has its place and its purpose; every shade of skin color is accounted for in much the same way that the colors of the houses are chosen. It is a masterfully planned community, right down to the studs.There are rules in Shaker Heights, rules on how many trees you have to have in your yard or where your garbage can can be (and at what time it can be there). Rules on speed limits and how many animals each home can handle. And for the most part – it all works. The residents of Shaker Heights take their community and its way of life as something to be treasured; it is a Utopia and must be treated as such.Mrs. Richardson grew up in Shaker Heights and never had any desire to leave the comforting motherly embrace the town provided. She thrived on the structure and glory that the town slowly embedded in her over the years; Shaker Heights carefully watched as she grew from adolescent into woman, and Elena Richardson hoped her children would grow up in her image. After all, who could want more than a tidy little existence in a tidy little town? No surprises, no nastiness, everything remained clean and beautiful and idyllic.Trip and Moody Richardson are her sons, and they are the epitome of what embodies the Shaker Heights Young Man. Trip plays sports and has rugged good looks that have captured the eye of many a young lady. Moody lives up to his name and spends feverish afternoons writing in his journal or riding around the quiet tree-lined streets on his bike. Mrs. Richardson’s oldest daughter Lexie is equally appealing with her WASP’ish good looks and beauty queen smile. But then there’s Izzy, the black sheep . . . the odd girl out . . . the child who must always question everything and insists on going her own way, especially if its against the grain. Izzy is the child who always has a problem shoved up her sleeve, always ready to throw it like a bomb on a battlefield.Izzy has always been difficult, even a as a young child. Mrs. Richardson even insists that she knew Izzy would be trouble even as the infant floated around in her womb. Thankfully she has become a little more manageable since the Warren family came to town, spending her after-school hours as a pseudo assistant to the enigmatic artist instead of plotting her next revenge. Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl drove into Shaker Heights from God knows where and planted themselves in the Richardson’s investment property, renting out the upstairs space and setting down some not-so-firm roots. Mia is a photographer of some sort, a job that the formally educated Mrs. Richardson could never understand. The whimsical Mia, with her peasant skirts and thrift store bracelets, spends her days creating what she calls art from nothing . . . fragments of their little town distorted into images manipulated in a dark room to suit Mia’s whim and fancy. Her daughter Pearl possesses a quiet shyness that borders on socially awkward, never having been in one place long enough to make friends organically. But Pearl and Moody, they have caught on like fire, and it feels as if you can’t find one without finding the other since the Warren’s move to Shaker Heights.It doesn’t take long for the wounds to begin showing through the worn bandage, the blood vivid and shiny. While Shaker Heights appears perfect on the outside, scratching softly upon the surface allows what’s underneath to show. When a prominent family in town announces their impending adoption of a little Asian baby, the real trouble begins. Mia Warren quietly and deftly inserts herself into the equation, urging those around her to do the same. She knows who that baby really belongs to and she knows the situation is going to get messy. But she’s been in messy places before, she’s had to make hard choices in her dark past, and she knows that she can’t walk away from what is in front of her. Not like she did before.The case of the baby will split the town into two equal pieces, throwing neighbors in separate chasms and pitting lifelong friends against one another. Mia Warren will be at the center of it all, her daughter an extension, and Mrs. Richardson’s family threaded into the scandal as purveyors of what they believe to be true justice. Will the ties that bind be enough to keep the family together, or will Izzy burn it all down around them – as is her custom?Little Fires Everywhere is the newest novel by Celeste Ng, and has taken book clubs around the country by storm. Hulu has announced an impending development of the book into a limited television series, and Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington have attached themselves to the project. A quick and enticing read, Fires catches the reader from early on, allowing its burn to spread and gather as the pages turn and the story builds on top of itself. Layer upon layer is applied, in a touch so tender you barely see it coming. It is appropriate for ages 15+, and touches on relationships from that particular age group all the way into adulthood. There are more than a few frank discussions about sex and pregnancy, but it is all very relevant to the plot and situation that readers of all ages will be able to relate to.The takeaway in my book club for this particular novel was that while the book was an easy and fun read, it was also viewed by some as a story was a little too young for their taste; a touch too YA fiction instead of adult. While the plot is split between points of view, and quite a few of those characters are indeed teenagers, I personally didn’t find it to be an issue. For me personally, the overall feeling was that of an adult fiction novel.That’s probably what I love best about my book club – we are all such different readers coming from different walks of life and points of view, and we can be hit by the same book in totally conflicting ways. It makes for a great group discussion, and our differences always lead to growth in my book comfort zone.I give Little Fires Everywhere 4.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to those who like easy and fast reads that are engaging and full of mystery. It is both plot and character driven which makes it semi-unique, and while the development is not strong in the character sense, the plot more than makes up for it. Readers who enjoyed Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies or Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth would equally enjoy Little Fires Everywhere.

⭐I was addicted to this story from page one as each person unfolded…over time, each character who I thought I knew, I truly didn’t know, but slowly and surely the story escalates while disclosing each person. Ms. Ng/author has you believing one family as an A-typical fine American family in the “perfect” neighborhood of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Then without realizing, the story begins to turn the other direction…and they aren’t who they seem to think they are…Mia and Pearl, two characters who apparently own “nothing” seemingly have a life of small means and a meaningless life? Without giving anything away it will grip you till the very end…the photography part was interesting and I was fascinated…I found it delicious and couldn’t stop devouring each page! A must read! Let it take you as it did me without thinking of any negative comments herein…go for it and will take you away!!!

⭐This book opens with the tenents of the Richardson family the Warrens, Mia and Pearl, leaving at night and dropping off the key in the mailbox. Then the next day the Richardson house is on fire and it was set by the youngest Richardson child, Izzy, leaving Lexie, Trip, Moody, and their parents, Elena, and Bill without a home. But what else would you expect from Izzy? She is always doing crazy things and seeming to let her mother down constantly and be a genuine screw up her entire life. Her mother has her reasons for criticizing her and it comes from a place of love but Izzy doesn’t know that or feel that.Now, what led up to these events? Mia is an artist whose medium is photography and she and Pearl travel constantly in search of artistic endeavors. But this time Mia has promised Pearl that they will stay put and her sophomore daughter can finish high school in one place. But what a place it is. Shaker Heights, Ohio is not reality. It’s its own world. Where you have to be a certain kind of person to stay there. Everything is planned in this suburb of Cleveland including what you can paint your house or where you can put your trash can or you’ll be charged if your grass gets a certain length.The big story in this novel is how a friend of Mia’s Bebe Chow who had given up her child to the fire department during the winter because she was suffering from postpartum depression and had no money for food or diapers for her child and thought she was doing the best thing for her. Well, a local family was given her daughter to adopt. Bebe who had lost her job gets another job and cleans herself up and goes to every fire department looking for her baby but has no luck.Then Mia who has taken some work cleaning and making dinner at the Richardsons hears that the Richardson’s friends are adopting a baby that was found at a fire station and Mia tells Bebe. Bebe goes to the press and causes a huge commotion. It will cause a split in the town as Bebe fights for her child back and Bill Richardson, a lawyer, represents the adopting family.Elena who is close friends with the adopted mother and believes in following the rules to a tee cannot believe it when she finds that Mia is behind Bebe’s claim. So she becomes out to get Mia and begins to research her life as Elena is a journalist at a small local paper. Pearl first makes friends with Moody a quiet young man who fits his name. He is not popular like his older brother Trip or sister Lexie. Thinking that he is not enough to dazzle Pearl he introduces her to his family at his house and that is the beginning of the end. Moody is in love with Pearl who is attracted to Trip. Lexie who is a bit shallow will find her own life turned upside down and needing Pearl’s help. Izzy falls in love with Mia as a mother figure and begins to work with her on photography projects.This book is just plain amazing in its characterization. The characters are so fully realized and realistic that you feel as though you know them. The story is rich and compelling especially the way Pearl is seduced by the Richardsons. In a way, she is an innocent no matter how much she has seen of America. And why Izzy sets fire to the house is perfect. This is one of those incredible and special books that don’t come along very often. I highly recommend reading it. I give it five out of five stars.QuotesBeing allowed to do something and knowing how to do it are not the same thing.-Celeste Ng (Little Fires Everywhere p 63)But the problem with rules, he reflected, was that they implied a right way and a wrong way to do things. When, in fact, most of the time there were simply ways, none of them quite wrong or quite right, and nothing to tell you for sure which side of the line you stood on.-Celeste Ng (Little Fires Everywhere p 269)

⭐Explores the depths and intricacies of motherhood with an almost perfect tone. Ms. Ng is a storyteller who grabs your attention from start to finish and leaves you ever impressed with her characters.

⭐Why oh why does this book get so many good reviews? It’s sooo disappointing. Maybe but only maybe good enough for some people’s idea of ‘beach reading’ and only if you’re desperate. Little Fires is written in dull unimaginative prose with the story being a prime example of a clichéd tale of an inexperienced fairly poor young girl and artist mum living in a very American middle class suburb. Of course this goes wrong. Had to stop reading this rubbish so who knows it might be fabulous in the end but I will never know. PS i am not usually this critical and each to their own but with all the publicity and attention this title was given I think we deserve a lot better!

⭐Suffused with layer upon layer of poignant irony, this hauntingly atmospheric novel clings to your consciousness like wisps of autumn mist. Whichever way you turn, it envelops you.The story is exquisitely told, unfolding with tantalizing slowness. It’s disquieting and addictive, unutterably sad, and it haunts you long after you turn the final page. Ng’s characters rise up from the pages, facet by facet, intricately formed; recognizable but so much more than bland stereotypes.Elena Richardson, journalist and mother of four, lives her perfect, black and white life. Obsessed by rules and order, she is controlling, self-righteous, judgmental and interfering. Her youngest daughter, 14 year-old Izzy, is the antithesis of everything Elena holds dear. Willful and impulsive, Izzy exudes a restless energy that Elena finds infuriating and confounding — she’s the proverbial cuckoo in the nest.Single mum and photographic artist, Mia, is the Richardson’s new tenant, and to Izzy, everything her mother is not: vibrant, passionate, spontaneous — and she doesn’t judge. Recognizing a kindred spirit, Mia takes Izzy under her wing and feeds her hunger for photography.When Elena and Mia find themselves on opposite sides of a moral dilemma, Elena starts digging into Mia’s past. The secrets she uncovers unleash a series of events that culminate in a moment of devastating, life-changing clarity for Elena.Ng’s messaging is both incisive and powerful. A neat, monochrome world may be some people’s idea of perfection, but what is life without colour? Without those flares of passion and excitement, of spontaneity? This is a book all mothers should read; the little fires in our children should be fanned, not quenched.Thanks for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful. You can find more candid book reviews on my Amazon profile page.

⭐Shaker Heights is a peaceful, well ordered community, with rules ranging from rubbish collection (and how it should be done) to the colour a resident paints their house. It is a respectable community, free of drama. That is until artist Mia and her teenage daughter Pearl turn up and lead to the unraveling of secrets. Renting an apartment from the Richardson family, Mia and Pearl become intertwined, albeit reluctantly from Mia’s perspective, into their lives. Elena Richardson is a second generation Shaker Heights resident and mother to four children- Izzy, Trip, Moody and Lexie. Elena has always been troubled by her youngest daughter, Izzy, but thanks to the arrival of Mia and Pearl, she soon realises she needs to have concerns about all four. A court case involving the adoption of an abandoned baby, leads Elena to uncover the truth about Mia’s past and ultimately results in the opening scene of the book where Izzy sets ‘Little Fires Everywhere.’ Celeste Ng gives each character their own identity and lets the reader see how they became the person they are today. The writing is descriptive and at times appears to go off on a tangent when, as I reader, I wanted to get on with the plot, but it was an enjoyable read, nonetheless.

⭐Characters were interchangeable, barely developed or distinguishable from each other. Descriptions onerous and repetitive. It seemed like it was hard to write, and so, it was hard to read, (and not only for the subject matter). Only two of us in a pretty literate book club finished it, and only one felt it had merit. Author was/is editor of Sunday Style Section of NYT, and in my mind this may be why it was so well-received. In my mind it missed a strong editorial hand, including cutting it to about half length, and working on character development.

⭐Am Schluß ist das Haus der Familie Richardson bis auf die Grundmauern niedergebrannt – angezündet von der fünfzehnjährigen Tochter des Hauses. Das großzügige Anwesen in einem Stadtteil von Cleveland im US-amerikanischen Ohio ist nur noch ein rauchender Trümmerhaufen. Mrs. Richardson, die hyperordentliche, stets hilfsbereite, dauerengagierte Hauptfigur dieser Geschichte, die immer weiß, was richtig und was falsch ist, steht vor den Scherben ihrer Existenz. Das ist das Ende eines recht erfolgreichen Unterhaltungsromans der chinesisch-amerikanischen Autorin Celeste NG, der in der deutschen Übersetzung “Kleine Feuer überall” heißt und auch in Deutschland viele Leser gefunden hat.Das Erstaunliche an diesem Roman ist jedoch nicht sein Ende – in der Trivialliteratur brennen Burgen, Schlösser und Herrenhäuser mindestens seit Daphne du Mauriers Rebecca zu tausenden ab -, sondern die Bewertung dieser Konflagration durch die Autorin. Die sagt nämlich: das geschieht den Richardsons recht. Wer so strukturiert, wohlhabend, bürgerlich, arbeitsam und philanthropisch-wohlmeinend ist wie Helena Richardson, ihr Mann und ihre vier Kinder; wer vier dicke Autos besitzt und noch dazu einen Aufsitzmäher, eine Schneefräse und ein Riesenhaus mit Dreifachgarage hat – der hat es verdient, unterzugehen.Dies ist das Fazit einer Geschichte, die 1998 spielt und damit beginnt, daß Helena Richardson der alleinerziehenden Mia, von Beruf Künstlerin und alleinerziehende Mutter der fünfzehnjährigen Pearl, eine Doppelhaushälfte günstig vermietet, weil sie auf ihre freundliche, aber penetrante Art der mittellosen Mia helfen will. Die beiden Familien kommen sich daraufhin außerordentlich nahe. Mia beginnt bei den Richardsons zu putzen und ihre Tochter freundet sich mit einem der Richardson-Söhne an. Eine Zeitlang sieht es so aus, als würde eine privilegierte Familie einer weniger privilegierten aus reinem Altruismus unter die Arme greifen, was für alle gut ist. Aber der schöne Schein trügt.Die spätere Katastrophe beginnt vollkommen harmlos: Helena Richardsons beste Freundin Linda – ebenfalls weiß, ebenfalls wohlhabend und genauso hyperordentlich, aber weniger fruchtbar – adoptiert ein chinesisches Baby, das in Cleveland ausgesetzt wurde. Aber Lindas Mutterglück währt nur kurz, denn Bebe, die chinesische Mutter des Kindes, taucht plötzlich auf und reklamiert ihr Kind für sich. Dahinter steckt nun ausgerechnet Mia an, was Mrs. Richardson erzürnt und sie anstachelt, Mias ohnehin verdächtige Vergangenheit genauer unter die Lupe zu nehmen. Und sie wird fündig: Mia, stellt sich heraus, hat einst gegen gute Bezahlung als Leihmutter für eine reiche Bankers-Familie fungiert, das Kind auch ausgetragen, es dann aber dem Banker und seiner unfruchtbaren Frau nie übergeben, sondern selber aufgezogen. Das weiß aber keiner, auch Mias Tochter Pearl nicht, der von ihrer Mutter sowieso dauernd erklärt wird, daß Väter nicht wichtig seien.Als eine der Richardson-Töchter mit sechzehn ungewollt schwanger wird und das Kind mit Pearls Unterstützung und Mias rührendem Verständnis abtreibt und dann auch noch Mr. Richardson, ein Anwalt, die Adoptivmutter des chinesischen Babys gegen ihre leiblichen Mutter vor Gericht vertritt und gewinnt, beginnt die Katharsis. Mrs. Richardson konfrontiert Mia mit deren Vergangenheit und schmeißt sie aus der Wohnung, muß dabei aber erfahren, daß die eigene behütete Tochter mit Mias Ermutigung heimlich abgetrieben hat, während die anderen Kinder der Richardsons wegen des Adoptionsprozesses Stellung gegen den eigenen Vater beziehen, den sie einen “Kinderräuber” nennen. Und jetzt geht alles ganz schnell: Mia und ihre Tochter flüchten aus Cleveland, während die jüngste Tochter der Richardsons das Elternhaus anzündet und danach auf Nimmerwiedersehen verschwindet.So weit, so trivial, könnte man sagen. Wäre da nicht der erstaunliche und durchaus ungewöhnliche Unterton, der sich durch das ganze Buch zieht und dem Leser sagt: Das normale, bürgerliche, wohlgeordnete Leben amerikanischer Vorzeigebürger ist es wert, zu Asche zu werden. Alles in diesem Buch ist besser als das Leben der Richardsons, das, daran läßt die Autorin keinen Zweifel, eine verlogene, böse, trostlose Charade darstellt.Mia, die kein Geld, keine Möbel und keine Anstellung hat, Männer haßt, mit ihren Eltern seit Jahrzehnten kein Wort redet, ihre Tochter über deren Herkunft stets im Unklaren läßt, weil Männer vielleicht als biologische Samenspender, nicht aber als Väter wichtig seien, ist besser als die Richardsons. Bebe, die chinesische Mutter, die weder Beruf noch Geld noch einen Mann noch eine Zukunft besitzt und ihr Kind mitten im Winter an der Feuerwache von Cleveland ausgesetzt hat, ist ebenfalls besser als jede gutbetuchte amerikanische Adoptiv-Mutter, weil Kinder zwar keine Väter, wohl aber die biologische Mutter brauchen. Und bei einer chinesischen Mutter spielt nun genau das, was bei weißen Amerikanern doch so total verpönt ist, nämlich Herkunft, Ethnie und Geschichte, sprich die kulturelle Identität, eine zentrale Rolle, welche rechtfertigt, daß die Chinesin ihr Kind bei Nacht und Nebel aus dem Haus seiner Adaptiv-Eltern holt und mit dem nach China entschwindet – obwohl ihr fünf Minuten davor noch das Geld für ein warmes Essen abging.Ebenso wichtig wie die Ablehnung bourgeoiser Wohlanständigkeit ist in diesem Buch die Befürwortung von Teenie-Promiskuität und der lockere, absolut entspannte Umgang mit der Abtreibung. Die Kinder der Richardsons sind, obwohl noch auf der High-School und damit jünger als achtzehn, alle sexuell bereits ganz schwer am Machen. Als die sechzehnjährige Lexie von ihrem schwarzen Freund – aus selbstverständlich bester Familie – schwanger wird, ist der mit einfühlsamer Detailfreude geschilderte Besuch in der Abtreibungs-Klinik eine organisatorische und ethische Lappalie, nicht problematischer als eine Zahnreinigung. Bei Bauchschmerzen am Folgetag hilft Mia mit Kräutertee.Feminismus, Antikapitalismus und der Haß auf das weiße, republikanische Amerika sind also in der Unterhaltungsliteratur angekommen. Die Ideen, die Celeste NG hier in Romanform verkündet und von einem klebrigen allwissen Erzähler, der dem Leser verbindlich sagt, was der zu denken hat, vortragen läßt, sind uralt. Sie stammen aus den sechziger Jahren des letzten Jahrhunderts, aus der Frauenbewegung und dem Populär-Marxismus. Daß diese Ideen irgendwann den Weg in die Trivialliteratur finden würden, war klar, denn sie dominieren Politik, Journalismus und den liberalen gesellschaftlichen Diskurs seit Jahren. Ebenso klar ist, daß kein Mensch im echten Leben das prekäre, halt- und bindungslose Leben Mias oder gar Bebes führen will. Aber Literatur und Leben waren ja noch nie das gleiche.

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