Little Fires Everywhere
| Author | Celeste Ng |
| Vote | 8/10 |
| Reviewed on | 2018-12-09 |
| Read in | English |
Pretty satisfying read with a Greek plot twist. It’s the story of a family, the Richardson, in a particular period of their life, and starts from the end, then goes back to how all has unraveled. The Richardsons are a wealthy family in Shaker Heights, a “planned community” (really existing, from my understanding) where families live their very orderly and routine lives. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are a lawyer and a local news reporter and have 4 children, three of which pretty in line with the system, and the fourth one, Isabelle, depicted from the very beginning as completely out of place. Their family dynamics are given a twist when Mia Warren, a photograph, and her daughter Pearl come to the neighborhood and become Mrs. Richardson’s tenants.
The element that makes things in motion is the adoption of a baby of Chinese descent, found abandoned in a Fire Department, and given into the care of another affluent family in Shaker Heights, who happen to be friends of Mrs. Richardson. The story gets complicated when the child’s mother pops out and reclaims her little daughter.
It’s an interesting and thorny read on love, teenagers, and family issues, a sad story of lives imprisoned and lives lived in freedom. Highly recommended.
Oh, and the Greek twist? Spoiler alert: Someone uses someone else’s name, and later that will be the source of pain.