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Little Fires Everywhere

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About this listen

The New York Times Top 10 Best Seller

The brilliant new novel from the author of the New York Times best seller Everything I Never Told You.

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. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned - from the layout of the winding roads to the colours 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 principal is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother - who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter, Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just 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 rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends 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 an unexpected and devastating cost....

2019, International Dublin Literary Award, Long-listed

©2017 Celeste Ng (P)2017 Little, Brown Book Group
Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction United States World Literature Adoption

Critic reviews

"I am loving Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Maybe my favourite novel I've read this year." (John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars)

"Witty, wise and tender. It's a marvel." (Paula Hawkins)
"To say I love this book is an understatement. It's a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection. It moved me to tears." (Reese Witherspoon)
All stars
Most relevant
A lovely story of middle class American family life where everything appears perfect but is far from. If you like Liane Moriaty style of writing then this is for you .

Lovely story

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'Little Fires Everywhere' is a straight-up thriller...' says the Sunday Times quote on Amazon. No, it isn't! From the cover and title I thought this was going to be a psychological thriller, too, and it opens with a house burning down, so it's an easy mistake to make. But whilst it is a page-turner, for sure, it's quite possible (thank goodness) for a novel to be unputdownable without murders and mayhem. 'Little Fires Everywhere' is better pigeon-holed (if it's pigeon holes you're after) as a character-driven novel which focuses on two sets of people - a wealthy family and an artist and her daughter - and explores how they impact one another’s lives. Set against the backdrop of the perfect American suburb, it's well written and structured, rich with detail and a diverse cast of characters, held together by an omniscient narrator.

It explores race, culture and creativity, teen angst, love and family ties, but for me the overarching theme was motherhood - others will disagree I'm sure, which only goes to show we all read and hear stories differently. One thing I particularly liked was the portrayal of Mia, a fine art photographer - whereas sometimes artists in novels and films are portrayed unconvincingly (the same is true of musicians - I've yet to see a Sherlock actually play the violin) - the descriptions of her work were so vivid I felt I could see her work spread before me.

In the middle the narration sags a touch, but what shines throughout is a quiet and subtle sense of morality, and having just devoured a psych thriller that started well but got sillier and sillier, it was a wonderful antidote to listen to a novel that comes together brilliantly and where the end was satisfying and true to all the characters involved.

An ambitious and tender novel - not a thriller!

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Don’t miss out on this book. So well written. One in a million. Just read it!

Best book I have read this year!

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Once you get over the fact that one of the teenage sons is called MOODY (🤔) this is an enjoyable listen. Not exceptional by any means, but the story is entertaining enough.

An enjoyable listen

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One thread. The inequality of power between even well intentioned rich folk and those less fortunate. Many ethical dilemmas explored sympathetically.

Thought provoking. Elegantly sketched characters

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