Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel
The #1 New York Times bestseller • Named a Best Book of the Year by People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Goodreads, and more
“To say I love this book is an understatement. . . . It moved me to tears.” —Reese Witherspoon
“I read Little Fires Everywhere in a single, breathless sitting.” —Jodi Picoult
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.
“To say I love this book is an understatement. . . . It moved me to tears.” —Reese Witherspoon
“I read Little Fires Everywhere in a single, breathless sitting.” —Jodi Picoult
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.
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Readers say *Little Fires Everywhere* offers richly drawn characters and a powerful, complicated exploration of motherhood, race, and privilege, set a...
I was testing out how my new Kobo accessed library ebooks and gave this a try. It's a complicated and powerful story about various aspects of mother-daughter relationships as well as the way an idyllic affluent life can feel less free than an itinerate artist life. I hope Izzy catches up to Mia!
Incredibly well written, compelling, and I like how nothing was wrapped up in a bow at the end. The little details about Mia and her brother, like secret phrases, made the characters seem so real.
I'm one of the last people on the planet to read this book so you don't need me to tell you what it's about. Everyone kept telling me I needed to watch the Reese Witherspoon version of this, but of course I couldn't do that until I read the book first! It was a bit of a comedown after reading her first book, but I appreciated her description of Mia's photography and the lessons about diversity and race sensitivity she was trying to get across.
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