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I’ll begin by saying that I’m usually not a fan of contemporary fiction. I need romance, fantasy, sci-fi elements to really get me interested in a book. However, due to the popular reviews this book got, and the trailer of the TV adaptation with Reese Witherspoon, I decided to pick up the book and give it a shot. To make myself stick to it, I even buddy read with a bookstagram friend, just for that extra shove I needed.
The first few chapters were dull despite the first chapter beginning with the ‘ending’ basically and talking about the fire. But as the story progressed, this slow-burn drama held my interest and I ended up finishing it in two days – which usually doesn’t happen with books of this genre! It was a provocative, character-driven, thought-invoking read that really captured my interest and kept the pages turning.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng starts and ends with the Richardson family watching as their house burns. They all suspect that Isabelle, the youngest of the Richardson kids, is the culprit. The only reason is, why?
The book follows the lives and stories of the Richardson family, their new tennants Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl, and close family friends of the Richardsons who are in the process of adopting an Asian baby who had been abandoned outside a fire station.
Little Fires Everywhere discusses cross-cultural adoption, explores mother-daughter relationships, and how the secrets of our past can have a way of catching up with us. It also explores how the actions of the more privileged are easily forgiven and forgotten in comparison to those who are not as privileged.
One scene that also stuck in my mind even days after reading was a court scene discussing the culture of Mirabelle/May Ling and the white couple fighting to adopt and keep who they think of as their daughter.
What I like about the book best is that despite following the different characters and their choices throughout it all, we are never ‘told’ who is right or who to root for. We simply see both sides of every story, the reasons why the characters make the decisions they make, and it is up to us to come up with our own conclusion as to who is ‘right’. At the end, the book is simply a story that follows a group of interconnected people around. People who have hopes, dreams, who have history and strong beliefs, people who fight for what they believe in and people who hurt each other unintentionally. And, most of all, it explores the relationship between mother and daughter. What makes a mother your mother? And all of this set in an ideal planned, upper middle class community with unspoken rules set for its wealthy and well-to-do residents.
While I enjoyed the read, I did have a few issues with the story. I felt like the ending was a bit too abrupt and incomplete. We didn’t really have closure with a few of the characters. Several characters didn’t really face the consequences of their actions. I also felt like despite all her actions, Mia was set up as the ‘hero’ in a way that made it seem like her mistakes weren’t really that, and in a way like she was a better mother than Mrs. Richardson. I also couldn’t stand the ending where despite finally founding out about the truth of her birth, Pearl was able to move past everything with no issue and move on with her mom. The ‘gift’ of the photos to the Richardsons? A bit.. Corny really. No other way to say it.
But all in all, this was an enjoyable read and one I’d recommend to others.
Tami Tales 