LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng - Scorching Sequestered Secrets and Social Dilemmas

Celeste Ng (b Amer 1980) won the Amazon Book of the Year Award for EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU (2014).  LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE shares story arcs based on maintaining secrets  which lead to false conclusions and calamitous repercussion.  LITTLE FIRES begins with a destructive house fire whose culprit is assumed.  The story sizzles along to its combustive outcomes.  This novel draws on numerous characters & broaches hot topics.  There are two main families, the Richardsons who live in wealthy, pristine Shaker Heights, CL.  The mother is a reporter (with her own repressed story) the father, an atty. and 4 robust, high school kids, 2 girls Lexi & Izzy (a volatile & much maligned daughter) 2 boys, handsome, athletic Trip and Moody, pensive & sincere.  Moody befriends Pearl, the new girl, Mia's daughter.  Mia is an enigmatic single parent and prodigious photographer.  Pearl (name derived from SCARLETT LETTER) and Mia have been living an itinerant lifestyle according to Mia's whims.  Moody & Pearl became fast & furious friends; both share a sensitive nature.  Moody brings Pearl into the Richardsons household where she becomes affixed to the family.  Mrs. Richardson sees things in terms of black/white, right or wrong.  She is self-righteous & manipulative.  She believes passion, like fire is a dangerous thing & too easily burns out of control.  Mia, is a mysterious observer who navigates in a gray area where things are neither quite right or quite wrong.  Mia may view issues from multiple perspectives but she intervenes when she perceives an injustice.  The novel makes nuanced observations, reveals unexplored convictions and & closely examines compelling social issues.  It appears many parents are unable to appreciate their offspring as well as those outside the family.  Photography becomes a metaphor for seeing things from opposing perspectives like comparing a photograph to its negative image.  Pearl melds into the Richardson's family & as Izzy & Lexi become deeply attached to Mia; positions blurred.  Mia is a subsidized tenant of Mrs. Richardson who rents to those deemed worthy of her generosity.  However, Mrs. Richardson is unable to see the bigger picture or outside a set frame of thinking.  There is a heart wrenching custody case involving an infant left at a firehouse which ignites heated debate.  The court must decide whether the birth mother or foster parents are entitled to custody.  The battle pits Mia surreptitiously v. the couple vying for adoption who retain counsel from Mr. Richardson.  Teenage drama sparks the storyline with lust, secrets and turmoils.  "The young are the same always & everywhere."    LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE ignites fiery emotional responses to this thought provoking and enthralling novel.