It is a New York Times fiction best-seller, it was adapted into a mini-series on Hulu that is now Emmy-nominated, and most importantly, it shed light on race, class, and family dynamics in America. It is the novel Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. The novel takes place in the 1990s in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and tells the story of two families brought together by circumstance and necessity.
The story starts with the Richardson family watching their house being engulfed in flames, with the firefighters informing the family that the larger blaze was a result of little fires being set all over the house. These little fires can be symbolic of all the issues within the novel between all of the characters, with themselves, and within society.
The Richardson family consists of mother Elena, a third-generation Shaker Heights resident that also works for the local paper. Elena’s dream was to be a journalist for a national publication, but her dreams were continuously deferred after the birth of her children. Father Bill is a lawyer, and together they have four children: Alexandra “Lexie” Richardson, the oldest Richardson child, “Trip” Richardson, the second child, Michael “Moody” Richardson, and Isabelle “Izzy” Richardson, the youngest and considered the black sheep of the family. The family also suspects that Izzy started the fire. The Richardson family is prominent and well-known in the city of Shaker Heights. Lexie is a senior in high school and feels the pressure to be perfect as the firstborn child, struggling to fulfill the plans that her mother has specifically laid out for her. She is also dating one of the stars of the football team, which happens to be African-American. Trip is a textbook jock in every way. He is popular on and off the field, good-looking, and is used to getting what he wants. Moody is a little more kind-hearted and doesn’t cause any trouble within the family, typically going along with the flow. Izzy is considered a problem child in Elena’s eyes as her unique personality is the opposite of everyone else in the family and she always tends to go again the Richardson way.
The Warrens are the next family that we are introduced to in the novel. Mia is a single mom and a traveling artist. She keeps food on the table by selling her artwork in various cities across the country. She works on certain projects for months at a time, then moves on to the next city with her daughter Pearl in tow. Pearl is used to this lifestyle as it is the only one she knows. She diligently obeys her mother as they move from city to city, sometimes sharing the same bed in small apartments and has never questioned who or where her father has been all of this time. Until she starts hanging out with the Richardson kids.
Shaker Heights is the next stop for Mia and Pearl, and Mia ends up renting an apartment from the Richardsons. Mia also takes a job as their part-time housekeeper, in addition to working at the local Chinese restaurant. Over the course of a few months, Pearl becomes very close with all of the Richardson children, weaving herself into their daily routines, and personally impacting the lives of Lexie, Trip, Moody, and Izzy forever. Mia also has a lasting impact on the entire Richardson family and the Shaker Heights community.
Without giving too much of Little Fires Everywhere away, the fortunate collision between the Warren and Richardson families tells the timeless story of privilege and ignorance in American society, while examining the relationships between a mother and her children.
After reading the novel, there were a handful of gems that resonate with me. As a mother, I can understand Elena’s struggle as she realizes that her children need to be loved equally, but differently. She is also passing down the insecurities and pressure to be perfect from her own mother to her children. Her so-called “failure” of a career is an internal struggle for herself as well and plays itself out through the course of the story. Mia also had her personal struggles as a mother, trying to shield Pearl from her past, when she should have been honest with her before Pearl was old enough to discover the truth. There are secondary characters, Bebe Chow and Linda McCullough, and their intertwined relationship shows what a mother’s love will force you to do.
Overall, this book is highly recommended. I recommended witnessing the story unfold on paper before diving into the adapted mini-series. While the adaptation does stay true to the original story, it is always fun to discover the original story before the visuals are added. Below is the official trailer for the Hulu series.