Little Fires Everywhere Summary
Ng, Celeste

Little Fires Everywhere Overview

In Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng presents a story of the past in order to examine relevant themes of the present day, such as race, class, identity, and a sense of belonging. This tale of family and motherhood, which is set in the author’s hometown of Shaker Heights, Ohio and told through an omniscient point of view, begins with its most crucial point of action. In the summer of 1997, Izzy Richardson burned down her family’s six bedroom home, so the mystery is not who did it, but why. One year earlier, Mrs. Richardson had accepted Mia and her teenage daughter, Pearl, to be their new tenants, and with their arrival came the friendships, maternal conflicts, and custody battle that combusted from Izzy's passionate spark into the little fires everywhere.