Celeste Ng – Little Fires Everywhere
Be wary of a narrative that switches perspectives between
numerous characters, for sometimes, it is darting wildly trying to conjure an
interesting story because the writer is unable to do so with limited
characters. Frustratingly, Little Fires Everywhere is not one of those. Whilst
the narrative focuses on several characters and darts between their
perspectives, the characterisation is unrivalled in anything else I have read
this year.
Central to the story is Shaker Heights, a middle to upper
class development and community of perfectly designed houses and roads that
were designed so children didn’t have to cross them on their way to their over-performing
schools – “the underlying philosophy being that everything could – and should –
be planned out.” Our focus is on the Richardsons, a family who seemingly
embodies the Shaker spirit and values. Trip, the athletic older son, Lexie, the
lithe and attractive girl to be feared, arty outsider Izzy and Moody, who
befriends Pearl Warren. Mia Warren, the artist single mother, has moved into a
house rented out by them, and their lives become intertwined – the inevitable friendship
struck between Moody and Pearl, the unlikely one between Lexie and Pearl, a
romance, and Izzy becoming infatuated with Mia and her art. Running parallel,
is a family friend to the Richardsons adopting a Chinese-American baby, and the
moralistic themes brought about by this. Pearl confronts unknowns from her
past, and a misunderstanding ultimately culminates in a house being burnt to
the ground.
Crucially, Ng negotiates engaging and multi-faceted
characters with weighty themes. One such dominant theme is race and identity –
we see traditional Shaker families who “can’t see race” which has a racial
element in and of itself, and through their proclaimed racial blindness yet
discriminatory actions Ng shows us that to ignore race means to silently put
aside your biases, and what should really be happening is brazen acceptance of
cultures, not facades and ignorance. Some of the racial stereotypes verge on
embarrassing, and this is exactly the point being made. Further to this, Ng
pushes you to consider moral dilemmas when they are close to home – whilst I
believed some of the moral voices in the book were correct, I also considered,
if that was my friend in that situation – would I be this moral? Or would I
have my own biases?
Adroitly, the book transitions from one voice to another
with ease, and you barely notice the transition. This is an advantage as there
are several voices to the novel, and therefore something likely to appeal to
most audiences. I struggle to find fault with the writing itself – whilst it
was distinctive, it melts away amongst the characterisation and the frenzied
pace towards the end. However, the novel isn’t entirely without fault. The
court scenes to my knowledge weren’t true to life and there were certain
characters who required a little more depth, however considering the number of
characters we delve into and the layers this provides, there had to be cuts
made elsewhere.
My recommendation is to pick this up immediately. Even as I
am writing, I am jealous that you will get to experience reading this book for
the first time, which I have lost. Whilst this book has taken over our Instagram
feeds and is littering the literary charts, I do believe it will hold its own
for years to come. If this blog has been testament to anything, it could
perhaps attest to my preference for books that toe the line between the serious
and “chick-lit” – my ideal read is to move away from the sombre and serious,
yet without descending into mindless and predictable, and in my opinion, Little
Fires Everywhere does just that.
*At the time of writing this is bizarrely just £2 for the
paperback on Amazon. Stock up!
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