Yes, I’ve finally jumped onto the hype wagon and decided to read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. And yes, part of this had to do with the adaptation on Hulu and the fact that it racked up some Emmy nominations. I haven’t learned my lesson from The Alienist though, and decided to read the book before watching. I’m sure there will be disappointments, but hopefully not that much has changed in this adaptation.
The book is a well woven story covering an array of perspectives within the Richardson and Warren households. The Richardsons are a well-to-do family living in Shaker Heights, Ohio who rent out a duplex to the unconventional Mia and her daughter Pearl. Pearl immediately hits it off with the Richardson children, while the youngest Richardson, Izzy makes a connection to Mia. Mrs. Richardson and Mia are complete opposites in every aspect of their lives but are thrown together when a local couple wants to adopt an Asian baby. They take opposing sides and Mrs. Richardson uses her reporter skills to dig up Mia’s very buried past.
That’s all I can say without giving it all away, but I found this book very compelling. Even though perspectives switch between paragraphs, it was not hard to follow, and you got a complete story with all of these different angles to it. I found the children endlessly annoying, as well as Mrs. Richardson, but the part of the book dedicated to Mia’s past was truly fascinating. I really hope the show does that bit justice. It’d be a shame not to.
I feel like I reluctantly read this book, because the hipster in me doesn’t like to like mainstream things, and that was the case here. But almost as soon as I started I was sucked in. I will say, even though I liked the book I am equally as apprehensive about the show because I’m not really a huge fan of either of the leading ladies, but hopefully they can prove me wrong! I’m starting it up this week, so stay tuned for that review! No doubt I’ll be making comparisons. I also think it will be so hard to top the almost perfect adaptation done with Normal People, but we shall see!