Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere

I wasn't a huge fan of "Everything I Never Told You," so I had no real interest in Celeste's sophomore effort. However, it's the selection of the LeMoyne Library Book Club, so I need to read it.

I ultimately found the book quite a frustrating experience - after finding it compelling and well written, the ending pretty much ruined it for me. As with many celebrated books, I did not enjoy it anywhere as much as the hype suggested I should.

Anyway, back to the ending. The author inserted so many contrivances to make things work out the way she wanted. For example, where did an impoverished Bebe get money for a *last minute* plane ticket to China (does she even have a passport)? And how did Izzy just happen to be going through her mother's papers so that she conveniently had information for Mia, like her parent's address?

I also thought that many of the characters' behavior was really unrealistic. After spending the entire book settling into Shaker Heights and developing really strong relationships with many of the people there (especially her first boyfriend, Trip), Pearl is perfectly happy to walk away from it all and leave with her mother. AND she isn't upset AT ALL to find out that she has a dad and grandparents that her mother never told her about. Okaaay. I have a teenage daughter and she shows more outrage when I'm late picking her up from a friend's house. I get that Mia and Pearl have a strong bond, but come on, Pearl is still a teenager.

Sadly, I don't think that Izzy will last 6 weeks out on her own. She's what, 15 years old, and grew up in the lap of luxury. She's got a lot of attitude, but that doesn't pay the bills and it certainly doesn't keep you safe "on the road." I shudder to think where she will end up, despite the author setting it up for her to reconnect with the virtuous Mia.

Obviously, I don't share other readers' deification of her character. I thought her photographs of the Richardson family members was the ultimate contrivance. I found her to be an incredibly selfish person who had ditched every relationship in her life once it served her purpose (including her parents, her art school mentor, her kind California landlord, and, of course, the Ryans). But the reader is supposed to believe that she has preternatural insight into the very ESSENCE of these people who she barely knows. I'm not buying that even a little bit. It felt like a really fake but also blatant ploy to bolster affection for Mia. (NOTE that I found myself thinking of the ending of White Oleander, where the artist, Astrid, makes a "box" which represents her relationship with each of the "mothers" in her life.)

I also thought that evoking the infamous Baby M case was so interesting - like, what would happen if Mary Beth Whitehead was actually a cool artist and she never got caught after she kidnapped the baby. However, the author wants to rewrite the story and alter the reader's allegiances. That didn't work for me. I was completely disgusted with Mia from the moment her deception was revealed and, as a reader, I really resented that she not only got away scot free, but the author attempts to manipulate our sympathies so that we cheer Mia on at every turn. Clearly, from the reviews I have read, she was mostly successful in this. Mrs Richardson, the rule follower, the dark yin to Mia's passionate yang, is the bad guy of the piece. If Mrs Richardson is such a troll, why did the author bother to linger on Pearl's fascination with all the Richardsons - the mom as well as the children who she raised to have such enthralling amounts of confidence?

A more interesting and nuanced novel would consider the perspectives of all the characters with equal sympathy, forcing the reader to reexamine their own biases, rather than using the situations to reinforce a pretty tired cliche about the unappreciated value of free spirits.