Maddy welcomed an almost unprecedented ten of us on Tuesday in her lovely sunroom: Annie, Linda, Sheri, Paige, Joan, Margie, Saran, Libby, and Mary. Except for a couple of mild detractors, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the fun, engaging book for many different reasons. “Little Fires Everywhere” took place in well off surburbia of the 1990’s, complete with the seemingly perfect family and their dream house. But all was not right underneath the facade, there were embers smoldering beyond what the eye could see on the surface.
Maddy said she chose this book because it was to her the best book she has read with an artist as a main character. Mia, the artist, seemed to touch and affect everyone in the story in sometimes unpredictable ways. The descriptions of Mia doing her art were fascinating and spot on.
There really was a huge amount of material to be covered in the story, the teens, the left baby, the past, the whys and wherefores, and Celeste Ng, the author, deftly introduces every situation and carries each plot line to interesting outcomes, keeping the reader engaged and entertained. The author accomplished interwoven side plots that made sense and tied the book together. There were in fact, many references literal and figurative to fire: sparks, embers, lighting a fire, etc that the reader began to realize that almost every character had a burning inner life.
The characters were well crafted and believable and varied, so that we could feel for the ones who were sensitive, dismiss others who seemed shallow, and love the conflicted, seeing in a character parts of ourselves as Elena began to see herself in her youngest daughter, Izzy.
This could be a book about how art crosses into life, for it does. At the end, Mia left her portraits of the other characters behind. Perhaps it was her way as an observant artist, to tell them to look at their true selves, look at how others, like Mia, can see them as they really are. Mia laid bare the many ways of being in the world and the bravery it takes to follow your own heart.
