Izzy reveals that the orchestra teacher, Mrs Peters, racially abused a black student, Deja, in class and seeks revenge by jamming toothpicks in the doors at school, blocking access to the toilet. She spends many afternoons with Mia at the home on Winslow Road. Izzyīecomes particularly fascinated with Mia, and asks if she can be Mia's assistant so she can spend more time with her.

Mia meets Izzy, the black sheep of the family, and the two become close. When Elena condescendingly offers her a job doing housekeeping for her family, she is hesitant at first but agrees only because she wants to keep an eye on Pearl. Mia becomes concerned about Pearl's idealisation of the Richardsons. Mia works part-time at a Chinese restaurant called the Lucky Palace and sells photographs through a dealer named Anita Rees in New York. She spends time at the Richardson home every day and develops a crush on Trip, and Pearl, who is used to a transient lifestyle in which her mother scrapes together money, is charmed by the Richardsons and their established home. Through Moody, Pearl meets the rest of the Richardson siblings: Lexie, Trip, and Izzy. Elena's younger son, Moody, who is Pearl's age, develops a crush on Pearl and becomes friends with her. The previous year, 1997, Elena Richardson rents her rental home on Winslow Road to Mia Warren, an artist, and her teenage daughter, Pearl. Arson is suspected, as there were multiple small fires. In 1998, the Richardson home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, catches fire. 1 on The New York Times fiction best-seller list, concurrent with the release of a television adaptation of the book.

You see all of the great things about them, you love them dearly, and yet, you also know all of their quirks and their foibles.' įor three weeks in April 2020, Little Fires Everywhere was No. Ng described writing about her hometown as 'a little bit like writing about a relative. The novel focuses on two families living in 1990s Shaker Heights who are brought together through their children. The novel takes place in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where Ng grew up. It was published in 2017 by Penguin Press. Little Fires Everywhere is the second novel by the American author Celeste Ng.

Author celeste ng