Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 368 pages
Audiobook Length: 11 hours and 27 minutes
First Published: 2017
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Publisher’s Description
From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Our Missing Hearts comes a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.
Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
Quotes from Little Fires Everywhere
Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.
Most of the time, everyone deserves more than one chance. We all do things we regret now and then. You just have to carry them with you.
It came, over and over, down to this: What made someone a mother? Was it biology alone, or was it love?
Rules existed for a reason: if you followed them, you would succeed; if you didn’t, you might burn the world to the ground.
TV Trailer for Little Fires Everywhere (2020)
About Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng is the bestselling author of three novels, Everything I Never Told You, Little Fires Everywhere, and Our Missing Hearts. Ng grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Shaker Heights, Ohio. Visit the author’s website →
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