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.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours 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 teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just 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 rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends 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 an unexpected and devastating cost . . .
I have finally, finally read Little Fires Everywhere and I regret ever putting off reading this masterpiece. I finished the novel weeks ago, yet I still regularly deliberate over the multi-layered plot, think about the vibrant characters, and visit Shaker Heights in my mind. Little Fires Everywhere is a complex, electric tour-de-force about family and the ties that bind us.
The characters in Little Fires Everywhere are so vivid that they feel real. From wild, bohemian artists to repressed, picture-perfect suburban mothers, this novel has it all. Mia and Pearl, two outsiders, are arguably the main protagonists. Their unique mother-daughter relationship is an integral part of the story. While in some ways I disagree with Mia's parenting methods, it is undeniable she is a talented, inspiring woman and a loving mother. Her mysterious past is one of the most fascinating aspects of the plot.
The Richardsons are also prominent characters who become entangled with Mia and Pearl. The parents and their four children represent the 'ideal,' stable American family yet they are plagued by conflict, discontent, and instability. The four children are all quite different, and in some ways fall victim to the faults of their mother and father. Moody, Trip, Lexie, and Izzy all become enamoured with the new arrivals; Izzy especially is fascinated by Mia's artistry and rebellious tendencies.
Shaker Heights, the novel's setting, is a real city that still exists in the United States. (It is also the home of the fictional Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother, but I digress.) This Ohio town is a large, ambitious experiment or 'planned community' with some of the best public schools in the country and a housing assistance office to keep neighbourhoods uniform and appealing. In a city that so values order and the status-quo, the arrival of Mia and Pearl creates a new kind of chaos.
At the center of the novel is a complicated court case that divides the town. This case bring up issues of economics, culture, and motherhood. Celeste Ng shows both perspectives in great detail, illustrating the desperation and despair of both the biological and adoptive mother. The case also reveals instances of despicable racism. I will not spoil the results of the case; but I will say the entire ordeal is harrowing, tense, and heart-breaking.
Little Fires Everywhere is something special. It's beautifully written, richly imagined, and an astute look into the problems of suburban America. All the characters are multi-faceted; they are all flawed in some way, and they are all sympathetic in other ways. I would highly recommend this novel about motherhood, love, and choices.
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