Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

 

Summary (from the publisher): 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 alluring 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 the Richardsons' friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family – and Mia's.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of long-held secrets and the ferocious pull of motherhood-and the danger of believing that planning and following the rules can avert disaster, or heartbreak.

Review: The Richardson family and their four children - Lexi, Trip, Moody, and Isabelle - live in Shaker Heights is a successful suburb of Cleveland. Mrs. Richardson has done everything "right" her whole life and defines herself on following the rules. Mrs. Richardson leases their rental property to artist and single mother Mia Warren and her teenage daughter Pearl in an effort to help those in a less fortunate position than her. Slowly, Mia and Pearl's lives become more intertwined with that of the Richardsons as all are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. Meanwhile, the Richardsons' friends are involved in a custody battle over their Chinese-American daughter that they are attempting to adopt and Mrs. Richardson becomes suspicious of both Mia's past and her involvement in the custody battle and seeks to uncover the secrets in her past. 

This novel was an interesting meditation on what it means to be a good parent. Ultimately it demonstrates that there's clearly no such thing as a perfect mother. Even Mrs. Richardson, who prides herself on making all the right choices, has made errors with her children and discovers secrets they have hidden from her. The novel also seems to be making pointed statements about the danger of passing judgement on the choices others' make. In Shaker Heights, everyone is simply trying to do their best and no one is infallible. 

Ng does an excellent job of developing her characters, although the mothers and children are much more heavily focused on. I didn't expect this novel to be so heavily focused on teenagers as it was, as much of the plot points rely on teenage drama and social entanglements. I was a little disappointed with the ending, which felt abrupt and somewhat unbelievable. Narrator Jennifer Lim did an excellent job at brining this story to life. 

Stars: 3.5