American author Celeste Ng's second novel is set in her own hometown of Shaker Heights, Ohio, a place she dearly loves. It tells the story of two families in Shaker Heights whose lives intertwine because of their children. When the Richardson's home catches fire, one of their children is suspected to have set light to it and deals with the difficult and often controversial subjects of teen abortion, mental health, and transience.
The book was acclaimed for the quality of its prose and use of language, but critics found it strangely unappealing and did not warm to any of the characters at all. Despite this, the public seemed to enjoy it. The book was one of the top ten read by book clubs in its year of publication, and was also awarded the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction in 2017.
Although Little Fires Everywhere sold well, it represented somewhat of a sophomore slump in Ng's illustrious career. Her first novel, Everything I Never Told You, was recognized as Amazon Book of the Year in 2014, and won many other fiction awards as well as sitting atop the New York Times bestseller list for several weeks.
