Little Fires Everywhere narrates the story of a small nomadic family, Mia Warren and her
daughter, Pearl Warren, who have just moved to Shaker Heights for a permanent home. Mia, an
artist who sees the world in a different light, meets the Richardsons, a rich family who will do
anything to preserve the planned layout of Shaker Heights. However, soon Pearl befriends the
Richardsons, realizing how much of life that she had been missing out on. Mrs Richardson,
otherwise known as Elena, feels as if Mia and Pearl have been hiding secrets when a picture of
Mia holding an unknown child in her arms shows up in a museum. Elena is determined to figure
out what Mia’s past is, even if it does come at a cost. However, Elena’s friend, Linda
McCullough seems to have been struggling with problems of her own. She and her husband have
tried to conceive a child for a long time, and when a baby turns up abandoned at the fire station,
Linda knew at first sight that she would adopt the baby soon. Consequently, upon hearing this,
the baby’s mother, Bebe, soon turns up begging for her child back. Linda will do anything to
keep the baby she found abandoned, while Bebe would do anything to have her baby rightfully
back in her arms. Little Fires Everywhere experiments with different forms of a love and
motherhood.
I absolutely loved this book. Now that I’ve read it, I’m wondering how I lived my life
before this book came into my possession. Little Fires Everywhere is written revolving around
the two main families, The Richardsons and the Warrens. Something that made this book a
favorite of mine is probably the different point of view and the effortless flashbacks to the past.
There are so many different ways that a mother’s love is conveyed and the fact that some of them
aren’t that clear is what I love the most. The novel also shows how fire can portray various
emotions, such as love and passion. However, there is also anger and terror demonstrated
through fire. The suspense in this book was amazing, with Mia’s past choices and Elena’s present
ones, the book shows how friendship can be destroyed with just a few words. This was a perfect
balance of past and present, along with a good amount of characters that don’t make the reader
feel overwhelmed. I’m never going to get over this book and I’ve already read it three times.