Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
(The author's surname is pronounced "ing").
We had a very lively discussion about this book and its themes.
We enjoyed watching the characters developing.
They had the “face” they presented to the world and a much deeper one that we were able to see.
So, some of us began by liking one of the characters and then changing our minds by the end of the book.
However, we felt that although the themes were very interesting, they were only superficially examined.
We thought that the book should have been edited and maybe become two or three books.
One on the Bohemian Lifestyle versus the comfortable but rule bound middle class life, one on parent/child relationships and one about the Chinese baby.
We felt the author presented the problem of who should have this abandoned baby ( the poverty stricken real mother or the wealthy but childless McCulloughs) fairly and that the issue was not clear cut.
One of us did not like the first chapter telling you the end of the story and felt that the book lacked tension because of this. However, we all agreed it was a page turner and was a good holiday read.
3.5*, CMC, 10th March, 2019
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