Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club debuted in June of 2017. Her 4th pick was Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about this title and was happy when I recently found a copy at a local book sale for $1! Seven years after she chose it I finally read it. It was worth the wait.
It’s the story of 2 families that live opposite lifestyles and cross paths. The Richardsons have the quintessential American dream. They live in a beautiful house in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Four kids. Financially successful parents. The other family, a mom, Mia, and daughter Pearl are constantly moving from city to city as they try to make ends meet. Mia is an artist and is always searching for her next project.
When they move into the Richardson’s rental property, their families intertwine. Relationships form and storylines develop. With that comes friendships, mistrust, jealousy, and secrets.
There are many well-developed characters each told from their point of view. This makes the book intense and worthy of the title page-turner. It takes place in the late 1990s so you’ll notice minimal cell phone use and issues that now divide our nation are brought into the pages of this book.
This book is a winner! I was interested in it because of the great reviews, the mini-series that developed from the book, and because Shaker Heights is only about an hour’s drive from where I live. This is where the author, Celeste Ng, grew up. Who knew?
Of course, I watched the show on Hulu after I closed the 338-page book. I say this a million times, but the book was better! There were differences between the two. I pictured their houses and characters differently. It wasn’t a bad thing, just not what I had in my mind when I was reading the book. Reese has a staring role! It’s always entertaining to sit back and see how the series is portrayed via streaming series. It’s only 8 episodes. I would recommend it! …but read the book first! Enjoy!
