Book Club Discussion Questions for 'Little Fires Everywhere' by Celeste Ng
If you haven’t read Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere yet, it is time to GET ON BOARD! The story is gripping and easy-to-read while still being deep and multifaceted. It is the perfect book club book because there are so. many. questions. And now that the novel has been made into a hit show on Hulu featuring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, there are even more questions to add, so let’s get started. Spoilers ahead.
Discussion
Are you a planner or a go-with-the-flow person? Did that affect which characters you were most drawn to?
How did both Elena and Mia manipulate the people around them? Did they do this knowingly? Was one of them ‘worse’ than the other?
The concept of “good motherhood” is challenged in this book quite a bit. Between Mia and Elena or between Bebe Chow and Linda McCullough, who were the better mothers?
Both Elena and Mia use their careers as justification for making some questionable decisions — was this because women in the 1990s (and today) had to work so hard to prove themselves within their chosen career, or was it because they had ulterior motives?
If you watched the show on Hulu, you know that it is somewhat different from the book. What changes improved the story? What changes weakened it?
The fires were set by different characters in the book vs. the show. Why was this? Was one version more powerful? Was the meaning the same?
Is Shaker Heights unique or is it an ‘everywhere, America’ type of town?
Class and race are major themes in the book. How have things changed since 1997? What parts of the book would still ring true today?
Why do you think Celeste Ng selected ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ as the title?
what are you reading next?
Cameron Bruns Ewing is the managing editor of Just Us Gals. She works in Sales at HubSpot while also pursuing a degree in environmental sustainability from University College Dublin.
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