The subject of Mother/Daughter relationships is complex at best, but add the usual components to a very unique, over-structured environment, and a very exciting novel can be written. This is exactly the premise of author, Celeste Ng, in her current novel, Little Fires Everywhere. There is much to be learned about the idyllic community of Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. It is a community planned with every detail in mind. At first thought, it seems like a great idea, but in this novel, the reader will see that such over-planning can cause a whole host of problems.
The Richardson’s are one of the leading families in Shaker Heights. The matriarch, Mrs. Richardson, is always at the forefront of everything community. She lives in an artificially perfect world…….wealthy husband, four children, beautiful home, rental properties……who could ask for more. She is so structured, she prefers to be called Mrs. Richardson by everyone. She is very selective in who she chooses to rent to in the community of rules and regulations. So, when Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl are interested in her house, she agrees to rent to them. She always uses her rentals to try to give back to those who are less fortunate than her. She fails to see that Mia and Pearl are not ones to comply with the ordinary rules of family structure in the organized community.
Author Ng, through her story, explores the thought that being a mother does not mean you are a perfect person. Reality is that each one of us is full of angst that we all have flaws and cracks, no matter how good we are at hiding it from prying eyes. Mia has secrets in her past that she keeps buried, and has lived a gypsy-like lifestyle in an attempt to avoid close relationships. But now, Pearl has been welcomed by the Richardson kids, so how will Mia handle this unfamiliar situation? When the ultra-structured Mrs. Richardson collides with the free spirit Mia Warren, their lives will become intertwined in ways they could not have imagined.
“Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of long-handled secrets and the ferocious pull of motherhood, and the danger of believing that planning and following the rules can avert disaster, or heartbreak.
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