Therefore, the central theme in the novel, Little Fires Everywhere, is of identity and belonging. An individual's identity is made up of who they are, while an individual's sense of belonging is defined by where they fit in. An identity and a sense of belonging go hand in hand. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Ng, Celeste. Little Fires Everywhere. Penguin Press, 2017. Celeste Ng’s novel Little Fires Everywhere takes place in Shaker Heights, Ohio in the summer of 1997. On a Saturday in May, the. Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere” witnesses the mysteries of arson, kinship and community in late-’90s suburban America. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Ng, Celeste. Little Fires Everywhere. Penguin Press, 2017. Celeste Ng’s novel Little Fires Everywhere takes place in Shaker Heights, Ohio in the summer of 1997. On a Saturday in May, the Richardson family home was burned down.
Looking for Little Fires Everywhere book club questions for your next discussion? We’ve got you covered.
Why is Little Fires Everywhere a great book club book?
To those out on their own paths, setting little fires
This is the book dedication in Celeste Ng’s second novel, Little Fires Everywhere—a New York Times bestseller and the source material that inspired Reese Witherspoon to produce a TV series of the same name (slated to be released in 2020).
When you read a dedication like that, you know you’re about to dig into a story, simmering with provocative themes and big questions that will keep your book club thinking and talking for hours.
Little Fires Everywhere Theme Song Composer
Sign up to Unusual Suspects to receive news and recommendations for mystery/thriller readers.
Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.
By signing up you agree to our terms of useThemes in Little Fires Everywhere
Before jumping into Little Fires Everywhere book club questions, let’s talk about some of the book’s themes. Note that this post may contain spoilers.
At the center of this story are two families: the affluent Richardsons and their tenants, the Warrens, who rent the second floor of a duplex across town. Both families’ lives—and their peaceful suburban community—are upended when friends of the Richardsons become embroiled in a controversial custody battle over an adopted Chinese American baby.
Of course, the theme in this novel that can’t be ignored is: How do you decide who makes a better parent to a child? In the case of this particular baby, both racial politics and socio-economic factors come into play. But woven into the overarching adoption narrative are multiple storylines with complex layers of symbolism. Little Fires Everywhere is a story about mothers—their relationships with their children and the choices they make to balance motherhood with the rest of their lives. It’s also a story about the burden of secrets, the search for identity, and the complications that can come with living in a carefully planned suburban community.
Little Fires Everywhere Book Club Questions
- You could say that this story begins with the ending. Within the first paragraph, we learn that a house has burned down and that the town is divided over the identity of a child. Why do you think Celeste Ng structured the opening this way? How do you think it affects your journey through the story?
- Izzy Richardson is the character who literally sets little fires everywhere. What are some of the symbolic little fires being set in the book? What other meanings do fire and burning take on in the book?
- The two mothers at the heart of the story, Elena and Mia, take on motherhood in very different ways, from the ways they plan for it to the choices they make as working mothers. How do you think this contributes to their feelings about the adoption controversy?
- For much of the story, Elena’s daughter, Izzy—and at times, Lexie—feels more comfortable at Mia’s house. On the other hand, Pearl, Mia’s daughter, feels more comfortable at the Richardsons’ house. Which is more surprising to you? How do the mother-daughter dynamics play a role in the girls’ feelings?
- Elena has spent her life trying to reconcile her desire to fight injustices and her respect for order and rules. She’s come to believe that “the elite have a responsibility to share their well-being with those less fortunate” and considers herself to be generous and open-minded. Do you agree?
- Do you agree with the way Mia chose to handle her pregnancy with Pearl? What do you think of her decision to keep the details of the pregnancy from Pearl?
- Once the custody battle begins, if you consider racial and socio-economic factors, it’s easy to understand why some of the characters choose to support the McCulloughs and why others support Bebe Chow. There are, however, exceptions, including Izzy and the differing perspectives of John and Deborah, the parents of Lexie’s boyfriend. What other factors do you think influence the characters’ positions on the controversy?
- Over the course of the custody case, both Lexie and her father waver in their stances. As you learned more about the characters, did your personal opinion evolve? Why and how?
- In the TV series, the character of Mia will be portrayed by Kerry Washington, a woman of color. How do you think this will or won’t affect the story?
- During Brown v. Board of Education and the Little Rock Nine, Shaker Heights residents believed that they were “smarter, wider, more thoughtful and forethoughtful” than the “storm of slurs and spit” they saw on TV. Residents came together to firmly encourage integration in an effort to create a world as close to perfection as possible. In contrast, the custody case tore the town apart. Why do you think this is?
- Why do you think Ng chose to set this novel in a suburb and planned community? Is the concept of a planned community working in this situation? How does setting affect the characters’ decisions and how different do you think the story would be if it were set in a more urban environment?
- Little Fires Everywhere takes place in the 1990s. Do you think the story would play out differently now? How?
- Do you think Mia made the right decision to leave with Pearl at the end?
- Do you believe Mia and Elena have changed as mothers by the end of the story? How and why?
- What do you imagine happens with Izzy after the novel ends?
So, call the club together, grab a round of drinks, and dive into these Little Fires Everywhere book club questions for a lively discussion that will stay with you for days. If you’re looking for more, your club might also enjoy reading and discussing these interviews with the author, Celeste Ng.
Want more? Check out this Celeste Ng interview and this interview.
Order and Control
The story takes place in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a planned community governed by rules as intrusive into personal expression as the allowed height of lawns and the exterior colors of homes. Everything about Shaker Heights has been planned to attain and maintain the appearance of order and order is simply another word for “normalcy.” That which is out of order is also out of sync with what is normal. This devotion to order and normalcy masquerades a more sinister intent: control of what is deemed to be normal and what is not. The obsession of Shaker Heights as an idea becomes concrete in the narrative focus of the story in the form of a child custody battle between the Chinese biological mother of a child and the white family trying to adopt her.
Raging Against the Machine
It is only natural that not everybody raised in a community obsessed with imposing its own standards of order and normalcy would quiescently accept it. Such a situation is bound to produce two extreme effects: those who support it without question and those who reject it wholeheartedly. This latter response—rebellious rejection of everything the Shaker Heights stands for—is embodied in the figure of Izzy, the youngest of the Richardson children. It is she who is immediately fingered, in large part because she has skipped town, at the novel’s beginning for having set “little fires everywhere” which have left her family “nothing but the clothes on their backs.' From there, the story flashes back to tell how things arrived at this state, inexorably making its way back to the beginning where the books ends with Izzy’s mother declaring she will spend the rest of her life looking for her runaway rebel if that is what it takes to achieve reconciliation.
Mothers and Daughters
Little Fires Everywhere Theme Statement
![Little Fires Everywhere Themes Little Fires Everywhere Themes](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124845813/722157470.jpg)
Soundtrack Little Fires Everywhere
Upon this foundation of order and disorder and the idea being normal or raging against normalcy is constructed a thematic examination of the relationship between mothers and daughters. The courtroom struggle for parent custody between Bebe Chow and Linda McCullough which pits biological claims against the perception of “best interests” plays out not just as a legal battle, but a morality play over what constitutes a “good mother.” Izzy’s mom is one of those Shaker Heights residents who has completely bought into the innate superiority of instituting order as the key to a planning future success. Izzy, however, is merely the daughter who most embodies the concept of rebelling against her hometown as a philosophical expression; Mrs. Richardson soon finds her careful planning and attention to order disrupted by unplanned activity on the part of first-born daughter, Lexie. And then, of course, there is the more uniquely idiosyncratic—for Shaker Heights—relationship between the latter-day counterparts of Hester Prynne and her daughter: Mia and Pearl Warren.