Celeste Ng grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Shaker Heights, Ohio. She attended Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Michigan. Her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, won the Hopwood Award, the Massachusetts Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and the American Library Association's Alex Award. She is a 2016 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, and she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Little Fires Everywhere is a straight-up thriller...From the
beginning, Ng's confident use of the omniscient voice signals that
this is a writer in total control...While the plot whisks you
breathlessly along, it lays out the bones of a debate about race
and parenthood * Sunday Times, Pick of the Paperbacks *
Just finished Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and
now I feel bereft * Nigella Lawson *
Just read it. It's a masterclass in characterisation.
Outstanding * Matt Haig *
To say I love this book is an understatement. It's a deep
psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity
of teenage love, and the danger of perfection. It moved me to tears
* Reese Witherspoon *
I am loving Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Maybe
my favorite novel I've read this year * John Green, author of
The Fault in Our Stars *
Little Fires Everywhere is already setting America
ablaze...it held me completely, from start to finish - held me
in the sense that even when I wasn't reading it, some part of my
head was straining to find out where it would lead next...what
will absolutely ensure the success of this book is that while the
plot whisks you breathlessly along, it lays out the bones of a
debate about race and parenthood - a debate in which Ng deftly,
dutifully ensures that everyone has a point * Sunday Times *
A burning house sparks tensions within an all-too-perfect suburban
community in a story exploring race, identity and family
secrets...She manages the impressive feat of allowing us
simultaneously to sink into the world she creates and boggle at its
naivety and self-satisfaction...At the same time, the pace and
structure of the story keep us turning the pages...This is a
novel that convinces and compels; it's a pleasure to read *
Guardian, Book of the Day *
The book of the moment * India Knight, Sunday Times *
A free spirit shakes up a complacent community in this wry,
beautifully observed novel...One of Ng's strengths is that she
makes virtue and normality as fascinating as venality and
eccentricity...It is beautifully written * The Times *
It's hard to sum up in this limited space just how fabulous this
book is - but trust us, you do not want to miss it. It
explores mother-daughter relationships, teen angst, race, love and
more, and there's a rumbling corker of a plot twist....Totally
unforgettable * Heat's Unmissables *
The must-read: Take a break from screen time with the hot
(literally) new release from Celeste Ng, Little Fires
Everywhere. About the arrival of a mysterious mother-daughter
duo to white picket suburbia, it's a bona-fide page-turner *
Elle UK *
The story is brilliantly told, Ng's bright prose glowing
with warmth and wisdom as she delves into the complexities of
motherhood, convention and creativity * Sunday Express *
Little Fires Everywhere brims with unexpected diversions and
riches...Like Sue Monk Kidd or Madeleine Thien, Celeste Ng has a
carpenter's sure touch in constructing nested, interconnected
plots, There are few novelists writing today who are as
wise, compassionate and unsparing as Ng, about the choices you
make, the ones you don't, and the price you might pay for missed
lives * Financial Times *
Celeste Ng's second book should have been on next year's best
novels list, but it was so successful in America that its UK
publisher brought it forward several months. Shaker Heights, a
complacent Ohio suburb, is shaken up by the arrival of the bohemian
photographer Mia Warren. Arson and a child custody battle ensue.
It's a gripping read and is sure to become a book club staple
(if it's not already). It has the celebrity stamp of approval
too: Reese Witherspoon is making it into a mini-series * The Times,
Best Fiction in 2017 *
Little Fires Everywhere (Little, Brown) is the second novel
from Celeste Ng and manages to combine a thought-provoking story
of race, belonging, motherhood and the cracked face of smug
liberalism with the pace of a page-turner * Mariella Frostrup,
the Observer Books of the Year 2017 *
Beginning with a house fire set by a teenager, the flames quickly
spread across Celeste Ng's suburban idyll in Little Fires
Everywhere (Little, Brown), a sharp and nuanced tale of race
and family in 1990s America * Paula Hawkins, the Observer Books
of the Year 2017 *
Ng sets up the story of two opposing families - one, the
all-American dream; one, the bohemian idyll - and lets it rip.
Jealousies, parental insecurity, teenage dreams and a small amount
of arson all come to the surface in what has to be one of the
best books of 2017. Our advice is to pick it up and read in one
glorious night * Emerald St, Best Books of November *
There's a huge buzz everywhere about Little Fires
Everywhere on both sides of the Atlantic...Celeste Ng nails
mother-daughter tensions perfectly...It's well-paced,
mesmerising and likely to make you cry * Good Housekeeping Book
of the Month *
I'm currently telling anyone who'll listen that Celeste Ng's
Little Fires Everywhere is one of my favourite books of
2017...Imagine Jane Austen transported to an upper middle-class
suburb of nineties Ohio and you're on the right lines of Ng's
incredible second book (her first, Everything I Never Told
You, was named Amazon's book of 2014). ...Moving at a
cracking pace with a central mystery to keep you hooked, Ng proves
herself to be an artist at the height of her writing powers... this
is The Great American Novel we've been waiting for. 5/5* THE
VERDICT: Little Fires Everywhere is a must-read...Celeste
Ng's dazzling second book wins this week. Having already wowed the
US - fans included Roxane Gay, Judy Blume and Reese Witherspoon -
buzz is building here. Scrap your next book club title, and get
your hands on a copy of this * Stylist, Francesca Brown, Book
Wars *
Ng paces her narrative like a pro, consummately entwining
multiple threads until each and every character is implicated in
the denouement. Deeply satisfying to read * Independent
*
Celeste Ng is as hot right now as the title of her new novel.
And Little Fires Everywhere is truly deserving of all the
hype * Red online, Best Books to Read this November *
My final recommendation of a book out in 2017 is Celeste Ng's
Little Fires Everywhere, one of my favourite novels of
the year..Ng is brilliant at crafting an all-consuming
world, and I found her exploration of whether family is biology
or love fascinating * Stylist *
Beautifully written...A fantastic read and one of HELLO!'s books
of the year * Hello *
Ng pulls the reader deep into the seams of her character's
individual lives and the result is a sumptuous feat of
storytelling that satisfies on almost every level * Metro *
Go to bed. Start reading Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste
Ng and it's so good I don't even pretend I'm going to get an
early night * Alix Walker, Stylist *
This brilliant novel blazes from the first page...a custody
battle over a disputed adoption is at the heart of the story but
it's only one strand of an intricate plot that slowly burns through
to an emotional conclusion. Fantastic stuff * Sunday Mirror
*
Parenting, politics, race and devastating secrets...the stage is
set for a drama that will have you thinking long after the last
page * Grazia *
Witnessing these two families as they commingle and clash is an
utterly engrossing, often heartbreaking, deeply empathetic
experience, not unlike watching a neighbour's house
burn....[Ng's] is a thrillingly democratic use of omniscience,
and, for a novel about class, race, family and the dangers of
the status quo, brilliantly apt * New York Times Book Review
*
This wise and wonderful book is compulsively readable *
Psychologies *
Ruthlessly dissecting families, motherhood and teens in one of
the books of 2017 * Emerald St *
Once again, the plotting and pacing are nearly perfect, the
characters believable and real. Ng is a master of family and
societal dynamics, shifting perspectives, and the secrets that we
try to protect - and readers who loved her debut will recognize
the author in this second novel, even as she continues to stretch
herself as a writer. We are now eagerly awaiting her next novel
* An Amazon.com Best Book of September 2017 *
This novel is all about burning your world down and I loved it.
There are lots of issues around identity, class and curiosity,
especially during high school. It captures the wonder of being in
someone else's world and realizing it doesn't remotely compare to
what you thought was the norm for everyone. And the anger. I
thought it was a brilliant take on growing up and the powerless
feeling of being a teenager and waiting to start real life *
iNews *
Delectable and engrossing...A complex and compulsively
readable suburban saga that is deeply invested in mothers and
daughters...What Ng has written, in this thoroughly entertaining
novel, is a pointed and persuasive social critique, teasing out
the myriad forms of privilege and predation that stand between so
many people and their achievement of the American dream. But
there is a heartening optimism, too. This is a book that
believes in the transformative powers of art and genuine
kindness - and in the promise of new growth, even after
devastation, even after everything has turned to ash * Boston Globe
*
Little Fires Everywhere brilliantly traces the fault lines of race
and class that run beneath a small town...[and] echoes several
themes from Ng's lauded 2014 best-seller, Everything I Never
Told You, tracing the fault lines of race, class, and secrecy
that run beneath a small Midwestern town. And again, calamity
shatters a placid surface on the first page * Leah Greenblatt,
Entertainment Weekly *
Riveting...unearthing the ways that race, class,
motherhood and belonging intersect to shape each
individual...Perhaps Ng's most impressive feat is inviting the
reader's forgiveness for Mrs. Richardson - a woman whose own
mission for perfection, and strict adherence to rules ultimately
become the catalyst for the maelstrom that ensues * Chicago Tribune
*
Stellar...The plot is tightly structured, full of echoes
and convergence, the characters bound together by a growing number
of thick, overlapping threads....Ng is a confident, talented
writer, and it's a pleasure to inhabit the lives of her characters
and experience the rhythms of Shaker Heights through her clean,
observant prose. Before she became an author she was a miniaturist
- almost too perfect for a writer of suburban fiction - and there's
a lovely, balanced, dioramic quality to this novel. She toggles
between multiple points of view, creating a narrative both broad in
scope and fine in detail, all while keeping the story moving at a
thriller's pace * LA Times *
A riveting novel that pits a self-satisfied
upper-middle-class blue blood against a struggling single-mom
photographer * O Magazine, 'Ten Titles to Pick Up Now' *
A wealthy surburban family watch their house burn as their bohemian
best friends leave town for good. Opposites attract and also
ignite in this thoughtful novel * People magazine, The Best
Books of Fall *
The literary community has seized on the book as a major 2017
release. Fault in Our Stars author John Green shared a rave:
"I am loving Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng," he
tweeted Sunday. "Maybe my favorite novel I've read this year.
Anyone else read it?" Acclaimed young novelist Esme Weijun Wang
called it an "impeccable, beautiful book," and Roxane Gay
said directly to Ng last month, "I love your writing and am a fan."
Bestselling authors Judy Blume and Caroline Leavitt, among many
others, have also sung Little Fires Everywhere's praises on
social media * Entertainment Weekly, Books *
Like Everything I Never Told You, Ng's excellent debut,
the book plots its way into a smart, accessible conversation
about race and class. But free of the restraints of
Everything's thriller construction, Little Fires
gives Ng the space and patience to confront how progressive-minded
communities approach identity * GQ.com *
A quiet but powerful look at family, secrets, and running from the
past. Once again, Ng has delivered a near-perfect novel *
BookRiot *
I read Little Fires Everywhere in a single, breathless
sitting. With brilliance and beauty, Celeste Ng dissects a
microcosm of American society just when we need to see it beneath
the microscope: how do questions of race stack up against the
comfort of privilege, and what role does that play in
parenting? Is motherhood a bond forged by blood, or by love? And
perhaps most importantly: do the faults of our past determine what
we deserve in the future? Be ready to be wowed by Ng's
writing - and unsettled by the mirror held up to one's own
beliefs. * Jodi Picoult *
Witty, wise and tender. It's a marvel * Paula Hawkins,
author of Girl on a Train and Into the Water *
Little Fires Everywhere takes us deep into other people's homes
and lives and darkest corners. Along the way, Celeste Ng is
always witty, engrossing, unsparing and original * Meg Wolitzer
*
Totally absorbing, each character drawn so well it makes it
impossible to decide whose side you're on * Marie Claire *
And so begins the build-up to the devastating conclusion - "little
fires everywhere." Ng's uncanny ability to embody multiple
viewpoints makes for a powerful, revelatory novel * bbc.com
*
Takes unerring aim at upper-middle-class America's blind
spots...a nuanced study of mothers and daughters and the burden
of not belonging to our families or our communities * Vogue *
Ng's best-selling first novel Everything I Never Told You proved
her deft hand at crafting family dramas with the deep-rooted
tension of a thriller, a skill she puts to pitch-perfect effect in
her latest entry...that is equal parts simmering and soulful *
HarpersBazaar.com *
One of the best novels of the fall is an emotional tale about
motherhood, class and so much more... Everything I Never Told You,
was good, but this is better * AARP.org *
A captivating examination of motherhood, identity, family,
privilege, and community * Buzzfeed *
Both an intricate and captivating portrait of an eerily
perfect suburban town with its dark undertones not-quite-hidden
from view and a powerful and suspenseful novel about
motherhood...As both Mrs. Richardson and Mia Warren overstep their
boundaries, Ng explores the complexities of adoption, surrogacy,
abortion, privacy, and class, questioning all the while who earns,
who claims, and who loses the right to be called a mother. This
is an impressive accomplishment * Publishers Weekly starred
review *
This incandescent portrait of suburbia and family, creativity,
and consumerism burns bright... As in Everything I Never
Told You, Ng conjures a sense of place and displacement and
shows a remarkable ability to see - and reveal - a story from
different perspectives. The characters she creates here are
wonderfully appealing, and watching their paths connect - like
little trails of flame leading inexorably toward one another to
create a big inferno - is mesmerizing, casting into new light ideas
about creativity and consumerism, parenthood and privilege. With
her second novel, Ng further proves she's a sensitive, insightful
writer with a striking ability to illuminate life in America *
Kirkus Reviews (starred) *
Ng's stunning second novel is a multilayered examination of how
identities are forged and maintained, how families are formed
and friendships tested, and how the notion of motherhood is far
more fluid than bloodlines would suggest. Ng's debut, Everything
I Never Told You (2015), was a book-group staple. Laden with
themes of loyalty and betrayal, honesty and trust, her latest tour
de force should prove no less popular * Booklist, starred
review *
Spectacular...A magnificent, multilayered epic that's
perfect for eager readers and destined for major award lists
* Library Journal (starred review) *
As I read Celeste Ng's second novel I found myself thinking, again
and again: how does she know so much? About all of us? How does she
write with such perception, such marvelous grace, such daring and
generosity? Little Fires Everywhere has the irresistible
pace of an expertly tuned thriller, and the observational
brilliance of lasting literature. It marks Celeste Ng as a
writer of the first rank, among the very best in her generation
- right there with Zadie Smith and Jacqueline Woodson. I was mad
for this book * Joe Hill, author of The Fireman *
Yes, it's the story of one Ohio town, but Little Fires
Everywhere is not that familiar tale of the underside of the
American suburb. It's a powerful work about parenthood and
politics, adolescent strife and artistic ambition, and the stark
choice between conformity and community. Celeste Ng possesses
the remarkable ability to write about the most serious of subjects
with the lightest possible touch * Rumaan Alam, author of Rich
and Pretty *
Little Fires Everywhere is a dazzlingly protean work - a
comedy of manners that doubles as a social novel and reads like
a thriller. By turns wry, heart-rending and gimlet-eyed, it
confirms Celeste Ng's genius for gripping literary fiction *
Peter Ho Davies, author of The Fortunes *
As if it wasn't totally obvious from her stunning first novel,
Little Fires Everywhere showcases what makes Celeste Ng such
a masterful writer. The way she examines the complexity of place,
and the people who inhabit that place, is some of the most
virtuosic, compelling, and wise storytelling that I've seen in
a long time. By looking so closely at this community, she opens up
the entire world, and it's an amazing experience * Kevin Wilson,
author of The Family Fang and Perfect Little World *
Beautifully written, wry rather than supercilious, with plenty of
little cliffhangers * The Times *
Little Fires Everywhere is one of those books. One that you give to
your mum and your best friend and your sister-in-law on their
birthdays. Incidentally, it's also one of those books that Reese
Witherspoon buys the rights to so she can turn it into a TV show
starring her and Kerry Washington . . . This novel is a
beautiful and complicated story about family, growing up and the
secrets you keep from the world. But mostly, Little Fires
Everywhere is about what, exactly, it means to be a mother --
Lily Peschardt * The Pool *
This compelling novel is a pleasure to read * Guardian *
An intricate story of family, motherhood, friendship and finding
where we belong * Grazia *
A drama that keeps building and building, this is one novel you
won't be able to put down. If you need more convincing, Reese
Witherspoon and Kerry Washington recently announced plans to adapt
the novel for TV - so get in there before it becomes an
Emmy-winner! * Hello *
Set in a 'perfect' town, Little Fires Everywhere opens with a house
burning down and a family in tatters, before spooling back to see
how the home's inhabitants ended up in this nightmare. Ng has an
uncanny knack of sneaking big issues into what you thought was just
a thriller * Grazia *
Entrancing * Daily Mail *
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