With teenage hormones added to the mix, the situation turns out to be combustible.

Mia’s creative energy intrigues the convention-bound Richardson kids even as Elena’s stability and creature-comforts attract Pearl. They rent their bare-bones apartment from the Richardsons and before long the families find themselves intertwined. The 'other family,' the Warrens-Mia, a footloose artist and single mom to 15-year-old Pearl-have landed in the neighborhood’s most modest home with the hopes that Pearl can take advantage of its top-notch schools after years of contented wandering.Īnd Pearl ends up getting an education, all right, but not exactly the one her mom had in mind. The Richardsons-journalist Elena, attorney Bill, and their four teenage children-thrive in this cosseted suburban splendor, their sprawling, gracious home the embodiment of order and privilege. Beyond that, their circumstances couldn’t be more different. The families live a mile apart in this wealthy planned community with rules governing everything down to the colors of the houses. Set in wealthy Shaker Heights, Ohio, in the 1990s, it’s the story of how two very different families both come together and break apart.

This world, this setting, these characters, seem so real and inviting that you give yourself up to them completely-it’s a bit like falling in love.Ĭeleste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere is one of those special books. You know the feeling: with a certain kind of novel, you suspend all disbelief from the get-go.

Little fires everywhere book series