Review: Little Fires Everywhere

A few days before break ended, I finished Celeste Ng’s newest novel, Little Fires Everywhere.  

It’s a gripping story about a peripatetic family of a single mother and her teenage daughter.  Mia only hopes that her daughter Pearl will grow up like other teenagers, as Mia is an artist at heart, who lives nomadically, changing Pearl to new schools every couple of months.  

Finally, the two decide to settle for good in Shaker Heights, Ohio, which prides itself in perfection and methods.  They rent a house that belongs to the Richardson family, and soon, Pearl becomes close friends with the four Richardson children.  

However, one of Mia’s coworkers finds herself in a mess after giving up her own child due to poverty.  A couple who is close friends with the Richardson’s happens to have adopted this child.  The adoption papers aren’t official yet, but Mia’s coworker, Bebe, wants her child back, claiming she is fit to be a mother now.  A huge trial takes place, Mia siding with Bebe, and the Richardson’s siding with the baby’s new family.  This trial tears the Richardson’s apart from their new tenant, as Mrs. Richardson is determined to uncover Mia’s personal background.

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I had trouble putting this book down near the end!  The pace accelerates very quickly from the middle and onwards.  However, the beginning is a definite slow start, as many different facts, relationships, and characters need to be established.  It is fairly complicated, with several plots, both from the present and the past twisting together into what Celeste Ng calls, Little Fires Everywhere.