Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

  

Little Fires Everywhere begins with actual fires. Dressed only in her bathrobe, Mrs. Richardson watches her family's home burn to the ground. The description on the flap of the hardcover of Little Fires Everywhere emphasizes the dispute over a custody case. A White couple tries to adopt a Chinese baby over the objections of the baby's biological mother. The case splits the town of Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland where everything is perfectly planned. But really, the custody case  is not the most important part of the story, at least not in my opinion.

Long before the custody case erupts there is Elena and Mia. Elena was born, raised, and always dreamed of raising her own family in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. It is an affluent community where things are carefully planned. Perhaps it isn't perfect, because no place is, but for Elena it is pretty close. A happily married mother of four, with a big house, and a job as a reporter at the local paper that is rewarding without being too demanding, Elena has worked hard to build the kind of life she wants. She firmly believes in rules and order and her successful life evidences her prudent choices.

For Mia and her daughter Pearl, Shaker Heights is the latest of a long list of cities they have called home. Mia, a photographer, lives for two things: her art and her daughter. She and her daughter move from city to city because different landscapes inspire Mia's art in different ways. If she can, Mia sells her photos through her New York agent. When making art is not profitable enough Mia takes odd jobs to make ends meet, as a waitress or house cleaner usually. Mia could probably make more money if she took portraits or other types of commission, but that's not what matters to her. She makes the art she wants to make, and if she has to scrub a few toilets in order to put food on the table and pay the rent, so be it.

Mia confounds Elena. What Elena doesn't understand, what she finds contemptible is how content Mia is with her life. To Elena Mia's life is one broken rule after another and Elena does not like rule breakers. Unfortunately, for Elena she has a rule breaker of her own living in her own home. Izzy, Elena's youngest daughter is no more a rule follower than Mia. In Mia Izzy finds a kindred spirit. Meanwhile Pearl begins to build friendships with Elena's three other children - Lexis, Trip, and Moody.

I really enjoyed this. Celeste Ng's writing is beautiful. I don't know how to explain it other than to say it flows. She has a way of getting to the root of what makes a person tick and how they work, or don't work, with others and why. I tore through this book. The plot is relatively simple but the characters are deeply drawn. I highly recommend.