Staff Picks - Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Adult Fiction)

Like so many readers, I loved Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng's debut novel. Since then, I've waited anxiously to hear from this talented author again. She does not disappoint. Little Fires Everywhere is absolutely stunning and even better than her first novel. I love how Celeste Ng brings such depth and complexity to a story, weaving sensitive, important issues seamlessly into the novel. We learn right away how the story ends on a shocking note. Then Ng takes us back to the beginning, the story-line unfolding to make sense of the seemingly senseless. Set in picture-perfect wealthy suburbia, all four Richardson children are drawn to bohemian single mom Mia, and her daughter Pearl, who rent a small house owned by the Richardsons. Matriarch, Elena Richardson, grows suspicious of Mia when a scandal erupts, causing her to suspect her tenant of hiding a secret past. Elena sets out to solve the mystery and right her ordered world again, but the results are not at all what she envisioned. This is one of those novels I will fervently recommend to library patrons. Celeste Ng is proving herself to be one of the great writers of her time.

Beth Moore
Information Specialist