books similar to little fires everywhere

The small interactions that everyone had with each other, Elena scolding Izzy, Moody keeping his crush hidden from Pearl, Lexie and Brian’s high school relationship-they all have big impacts and a ripple effect that touches everyone.Įven though there are so many characters in the novel, I was never lost or confused as to who was who and what their relationships were. Ng also highlighted secondary characters backstories as well, mostly the two families fighting over the baby, the lawyers involved in the case, and others, but this never takes away from the main plot. The interconnection between all these lives drives the plot forward, and the character development is well paced.

The point of the book can be summed up in this one line: “It came, over and over, down to this: what made someone a mother? Was it biology alone, or was it love?”Īlthough the book is slow-moving, Ng writes her characters and scenes in a way that keeps the reader’s attention. Everyone starts taking sides on who should have the baby: the rich adoptive parents or the single maternal mother? The case goes all the way to court with the whole town watching. Not only that, but the adoption of a Chinese baby from a completely different family tear both of these families apart. Mia, however, has a mysterious past that Elena Richardson feels she needs to uncover. When Pearl starts coming over to the Richardson’s almost every day, Elena hires Mia for housekeeping as a gesture of goodwill. Soon after they meet, Mia and Pearl become tenants of Elena. From there, Ng takes a step back to when these lives intersected and takes a look at the events leading up to the large house fire. The book starts with the Richardson house on fire and the youngest child Izzy – who is also considered to be the problem child – gone. The Warrens consist of wanderer Mia and her daughter Pearl, who each march to the beat of their own drum. The Richardsons are an “all-American family.” Elena works at her local newspaper, married her college sweetheart, moved back to her hometown into a big house and had four children, two boys and two girls. Every chapter is a different POV, sometimes looking at things through the eyes of the children of the families and other times hearing the adult side of the story.

“Little Fires Everywhere” is about two intertwined families – the Richardsons and the Warrens – in the 1990s. That is probably why Reese Witherspoon is helping adapt her book, “Little Fires Everywhere,” into a TV show. Author Celeste Ng has an amazing ability to make something that is seemingly mundane into something exciting that a reader just can’t put down.

Books similar to little fires everywhere