LIttle Fires Everywhere

Ng, Celeste. Little Fires Everywhere. New York: Penguin 2017. Print.

First Sentences:

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.

Description:

Celeste Ng can really write as evidenced by Everything I Never Told You, her gripping debut novel of family relationships, hidden lives, sadness, and passion. Her newest novel, Little Fires Everywhere, only adds to her reputation for understanding human nature and the dynamics behind interesting characters facing difficult decisions that have far-ranging implications.

It is a book that simply absorbs you into the quiet lives of the upper middle class community of Shaker Heights. 

All up and down the street the houses looked like any others -- but inside them were people who might be happy, or taking refuge, or steeling themselves to go out into the world, searching for something better. So many lives she would never know about, unfolding behind those doors.

The story is off and running with an opening scene that brings the Richardson family and residents of the neighborhood out of their homes to watch a fire completely engulf the home of Bill and Elena Richardson and their four children, Trip, Lexi, Moody, and Izzy. The family and neighbors seem to calmly accept that the fire was set by the angry, 14-year-old Izzy, but she is nowhere to be found.

Ng then recounts the backstory leading up to the fire, beginning with the mysterious Mia Warren, a photographer/artist, and her teenage daughter, Pearl, who rent a small house from the Richardsons. Mia and Pearl lead lives of vagabonds, traveling from city to city, stopping only when Mia feels inspiration for a new photographic image. In each city Mia finds employment that pays for rent and food, yet gives her time to work nights on her art. When a project is complete (six months or less), her photos are sent to a gallery in New York, and Mia and Pearl drive off, looking for new inspiration in another town. 

But Mia has recently promised Pearl that Shaker Heights will be where they will settle permanently. Mia is engrossed in a new project, so Pearl if free to make friends with the wealthy Richardson family. With them she experiences a new world of luxury and ease. But Pearl also faces conflicting passions and life decisions with the Richardson teens and parents.

All her life, she had learned that passion, like fire, was a dangerous thing. It easily went out of control. It scaled walls and jumped over trenches....Better to control that spark and pass it carefully from one generation to the next, like an Olympic torch. ....Carefully controlled. Domesticated. Happy in captivity. The key...was to avoid conflagration.

Then we meet Shaker Heights residents Mark and Linda McCullough, a couple who adopt a child abandoned on the steps of a local firehouse. They have the wealth and love to offer a perfect home for the child. But issues arise when the birth mother, Bebe, turns up with a change of heart concerning the baby.

Mia becomes the touchstone for individuals wishing to share secrets, get advice, or just find a quiet solace from looming decisions. But little is known about Mia's past, a situation that bothers Elena Richardson enough to poke around into Mia's early life and turn over stones regarding some of the decisions Mia made that shaped her current life.

The problem with rules...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, not of them quite wrong or quite right, and nothing to tell you for sure which side of the line you stood on.

That's enough, no more hints. I can't give anything away of this compelling book and its everyday characters whose worlds are shaken. I loved each character, the writing, and especially the unexpected, highly satisfying ending. Not many stories wrap up with the same quality and bang as they begin. Highest recommendation.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

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Engrossing, challenging novel of Turtle and Taylor Greer, a Native American child and her adoptive mother, challenged in court to return the child to her tribe to gain a cultural upbringing. 

Gaige, Amity. Schroder: A Novel  

A man on a spontaneous whim, decided to kidnap his young daughter and take her on a road trip without her mother's knowledge or permission. He intends her no harm, but merely wants to be with her for some time. But what are the implications of his actions as the day turns into a week, into several weeks, into ...? Beautifully and passionately written. (previously reviewed here)