Thursday, May 14, 2020

Little Fires Everywhere



From the Publishers:
From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors 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 teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. 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 Richardsons 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.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

My Thoughts:
In this time of Covid-19 when I have been working from home and stuck on an island for 50 days now, I think about how many books I could have finished, and yet, this quarantine has actually hindered my reading. My work hours are so long now that I donʻt want to read for pleasure. Perhaps it is cabin fever, depression, all of the above, but it has been so hard to just read at the end of the day. I just kind of work, vegetate in front of the tv and pass out. 

This is not the kind of book to read when you feel like not reading. It has taken me a long while to finish this, but this is a book for binge reading. If you like to see families start to unravel, then explode out, this is for you. I am always wary of perfection and what hides below the facade of perfection. So what is there? So many secrets! The broken ones are mirrors. The perfect ones are cardboard cutout people or drowning ducks. That is what this book is about. 

I normally do not like movies or series from books, but I must say the acting of Reese Witherspoon in the series is so good!  

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