Blog Tour: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

'In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned -- from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. 

Enter Mia Warren -- an enigmatic artist and single mother -- who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardson's. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. 

When old family friends of the Richardson's attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.'

'All her life, she had learned that passion, like fire, was a dangerous thing. It so easily went out of control. It scaled walls and jumped over trenches. Sparks leapt like fleas and spread rapidly; a breeze could carry embers for miles. Better to control that spark and pass it carefully from one generation to the next, like an Olympic torch. Or, perhaps, to tend it carefully like an eternal flame: a reminder of light and goodness that would never- could never- set anything ablaze. Carefully controlled. Domesticated. Happy in captivity.'

My thoughts...

Simply put Celeste Ng's writing is beautiful. If you haven't read her debut Everything I Never Told You, you really should. In Little Fires Everywhere, Ng creates characters that are so vivid they feel real. She teases their truths as she weaves a story of intrigue that focuses on race, privilege and entitlement. Looking at it from all angles we have the Richardson family- wealthy, comfortable and white. Living life by the rules of their small town, except for black sheep of the family youngest daughter Izzy who sees things quite differently. The there's single mother and artist Mia who never stays put long taking her daughter Pearl with her from state to state making do with the little they have. Finally we have Bebe a young Chinese woman who works hard, doesn't have much, and is fighting fiercely for her daughter after a regretful mistake. Every single one of these characters is well fleshed out and explored as we see how a making a small mistake can have such a huge effect for these people. 

The plot is beautifully crafted. Everything gradually falls into place in a natural way right down to every tiny detail. Everything flows so perfectly, I found myself re-reading passages as I wanted to both devour the story but also savour the words. I feel like my review could never give this book justice. It made me smile and it made me cry. Thank you Celeste Ng for writing such a masterpiece.

In short this book is breathtaking. Read it.

'Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.'

Little Fires Everywhere can be purchased here

and don't forget to check out the other stops on the blog tour!

[Huge thanks to Grace at Little Brown Book Group for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour and providing me with a copy of the book for honest review]