Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good exploration of what it is to be a parent, the legality of it, the biology, the real life ramifications. Mix these issues with prejudice--racial, sexual, class. But Ng does this well in the real moments of life--principles we say we believe in may change when confronted with exceptions for our friends, our children. There is also the question of what makes a good parent--which is more important, the temporal or emotional needs? No one escapes from this story without some blame and/or realization that they do not live their own beliefs all of the time. By allowing the focus to follow so many characters we can understand the justifications, the realities and the decisions, even if the other ignorant parties don't and we also realize there are no easy answers. Ng helps us to realize we have our own exceptions and prejudices. Do I completely understand the final scenes? No, because of all the characters, Izzy may be the least explored. But overall I thought the issues and questions raised were thought-provoking and proved there are no easy answers when it comes to the who and hows of parenting.

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