Before you start reading: This is a critical review of the book, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. This post may discuss key plot points, which may contain spoilers, so please read with that in mind.
Introduction
Celeste Ng’s novel, Little Fires Everywhere, published in 2017, weaves heavy topics, such as racism and classism, into a story about the tangled and complicated life of Mrs. Richardson, a wealthy white wife and mother, living in the idyllic community of Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Summary
Elena Richardson, referred to as Mrs. Richardson in the novel, surrounds herself with what she considers the ideal life – career, kids, home, cars, marriage – and other than her youngest daughter, Izzy, who seems to be the troublemaker in the family, Mrs. Richardson’s life is perfect. When Mia Warren and her daughter, Pearl arrive in town, and this signals the beginning of the end. Slowly, Mrs. Richardson’s life begins to unravel through a series of events, all triggered by Mia Warren and, to a lesser extent, Pearl, though the true catalyst is Mrs. Richardson herself, and the choices she made throughout her life.
Discussion
I decided to use a different format for this critical review because I found it difficult to organize my thoughts on what makes this story impactful and rich in all of the components that contribute to it. So rather than separate the components orderly as I did here with my critical review of Cemetery Boys, I’m going to brain dump a bit – but artfully.
To begin, Celeste Ng’s novel, Little Fires Everywhere, follows the lives of the Richardson’s, Mia Warren, and her daughter, Pearl. At first glance, and throughout the novel, I thought that the book was about racism, classism, sexism, and privilege. And while those are heavy themes that lend to the story and shape the characters, the true story, in my view, didn’t reveal itself until the end.
Elena Richardson, referred to as Mrs. Richardson in the novel, surrounds herself with what she considers the ideal life – career, kids, home, cars, marriage – and other than her youngest daughter, Izzy, who seems to be the troublemaker in the family, Mrs. Richardson’s life is perfect. But when Mia Warren and Pearl arrive in town, slowly everything that made Mrs. Richardson’s life perfect begins to unravel, with little fires everywhere (an apt title) popping up everywhere.
Many people would agree that nothing is as it seems. Those who seem to have everything often end up having nothing of real value, and I believe that is true for this novel. Mrs. Richardson believes herself to be a kind, generous woman who has the ideal life, and yet as the novel progresses, Ng shows us all of the little ways where this isn’t at all true, and I think this begins and ends with Shaker Heights.
We learn early on that Shaker Heights is full of rules and regulations, and that the community was planned to avoid the “unseemly, the unpleasant, and the disastrous.” This illustrates that a community, though seemingly welcoming, has rules in place that limits the choices of those within the community. Who decides what is “unseemly”? Much like in society, the people telling the story are those who have the power to do so, and as it is in real life, Shaker Heights is a community of powerful people, and Mrs. Richardson likes power, though she’d never admit to that. If you asked Mrs. Richardson about having power, she’d probably say she has no more power than anyone else in Shaker Heights, and she’s blessed to have friends and colleagues who can be at her side in a moment’s notice. But there is a craving there, and I think it all stems from the same issue.
Mrs. Richardson had always planned her life to be a certain way, yet there are many moments in the novel where we can see her feeling detached from it all. Despite having chosen that life, she feels trapped by it (again, not something she’d ever admit). She had the opportunity to go out and be someone else – to say the hell with her plans and to spread her wings – but she didn’t choose that life. Mia is a glaring, physical representation of the freedom Mrs. Richardson always wanted but never achieved because she was obsessed with the idea that the only “correct” life was a perfect one, in her hometown, with her cars and houses and husband and kids and job – a job she’s bored of, which I think is why she holds onto the mystery of Mia’s past so tightly. How dare this black woman come into her perfect little paradise of a town and dare to exist outside of Mrs. Richardson’s rules and values?
Mrs. Richardson judges everyone else’s life. She says Mia and Pearl have a pathetic life, having so little but it’s her own life that feels hollow. In order to put herself in a better position emotionally, she claims everyone else’s life is worse than hers. This book is a commentary on how the rules of society force us into specific roles, and when those roles are challenged by those who live outside of society’s rules, the person living inside the cage feels rattled and slighted, as if they’re being judged or doing something wrong. If Mia lives her life freely and is happy, why does Mrs. Richardson feel so empty while living inside the cage?
Analysis
- Strengths:
- Ng uses a third-person omniscient point-of-view to help the reader examine each character’s contribution to the story.
- The heavy themes within the book prop up the main subject of the story.
- Ng uses foreshadowing artfully – giving just enough information to make you want to keep going. Also, beginning with the end is risky but it worked well in this piece.
- Weaknesses
- The first few chapters feel a bit slow, making the book hard to get into.
- There is so much happening within the novel that it can be difficult to organize all of the ways these moments shape that story. That said, it all comes together well in the end.
Conclusion
There are all these little things that bloom into very big things – a kind word here, an angry word there – it all adds up into something beautifully human. It guides our lives like little fires along a forest path. It shapes us and transforms us into something we’d never be without those experiences. Little Fires Everywhere is more than a simple story. It’s a journey and, just like the characters, we too are forever changed by it.