Books Like Little Fires Everywhere

Books Like Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng was published in 2017 and it is the second novel in which she uses her childhood home town of Shaker Heights as the setting. At its heart, the novel is about two families living in this area who end up with their lives intertwined. The book quickly gained popularity and is set to be featured on Hulu as an eight episode miniseries, starring Reese Witherspoon. However, if you are a fan of the book and can't wait for the miniseries to premiere in 2020, here are a few more books that are similar to Little Fires Everywhere.

Miracle Creek: A Novel

by Angie Kim

Miracle Creek: A Novel by Angie Kim

Just like Little Fires Everywhere, Miracle Creek is a novel about family and about secrets. And, just like Celeste Ng used her own experiences growing up in Shaker Heights to write her story, so did Angie Kim use her experiences for her novel. It is set in rural Virginia, where Young and Pak Yoo are the owners and operators of a pressurized oxygen chamber that they use as an experimental medical treatment device. Tragically, the device explodes and kills two people, which results in a dramatic murder trial. It is during this trial that a lot of dark secrets are exposed and Kim keeps readers on the edge of their seats until the end.

Commonwealth

by Ann Patchett

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Another unusual, but riveting book about families and what keeps them together is Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. In her novel, she tells the story of four parents and six children who had the course of their lives changed thanks to one chance encounter. The children from the Keating and Cousins family find themselves spending their summers together when Bert Cousins and Franny Keating end their marriages to be with each other. This causes a bond to form between the children, which is tested many years later one of the children tells the story of her childhood to an author whom she is having an affair with. He uses the story to write an extremely successful book, which forces the children to come to terms with a lot of issues.

Home Fire

by Kamila Shamsie

Home FIre by Kamila Shamsie

Like Little Fires Everywhere and the other books on this list, Home Fire is a story of different families who find their lives entwined. In this tale by Kamila Shamsie, it is the Pasha family and the Lone family, who at first glance, couldn't be more different. The children of the Pasha family were orphaned when their mother died and they never even knew their deceased jihadi father, which resulted in the older sister, Isma having to raise them. On the other hand is Eamonn Lone, son of a British politician and white, American mother, who is living a privileged life. Against all odds, Isma and Eamonn strike up a friendship and discover that that not only have their families crossed paths in the past, but are set to do so again in the future.

Tracing The Bones

by Elise A. Miller

Tracing The Bones by Elise A. Miller

The outcome of different families becoming involved in each others lives is not always positive and Tracing The Bones by Elise A. Miller is a good example of this. It is the story of Eve Myer, a housewife who is still bitter about the affair her husband had long ago. She also struggles with her writing career, which is not going as well as planned and suffers from chronic back pain to boot. Then, a new family moves in next door and Eva becomes fascinated with them. Anna is a beautiful life coach, while Billy is an alternative healer. When Eve acts on her lust for Billy and signs up for healing sessions with him things begin to spiral out of control. Then, to make matters worse, tragedy strikes Anna and her small son, placing Eve under even more suspicion.

Little Broken Things

by Nicole Baart

Little Broken Things by Nicole Baart

Familiar ties, confrontations and betrayals are also at the heart of Little Broken Things by Nicole Baart. In this novel, Quinn Cruz, who is part of an affluent suburban family, receives a cryptic message from her older sister, Nora The two are not exactly close and Quinn hasn't seen her in almost a year, so she doesn't pay too much attention to it. However, her sister then shows up with a frightening, scared girl named Lucy in tow, who she hands over to Quinn. Nora leaves Lucy in Quinn's care with instructions not to tell anyone about the girl, especially their mother. This leaves Quinn in the difficult situation of trying to take care of Lucy while worrying about what on earth Nora may have gotten herself into.

Brass: A Novel

by Xhenet Aliu

Brass: A Novel by Xhenet Aliu

Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere, praised Brass herself by calling it a fierce, big-hearted, unflinching debut. It is the story of Elsie, the granddaughter of Lithuanian immigrants and waitress at a diner, who dreams of a better life. She meets Bashkim, an Albanian man who left his wife behind to chase his dreams in America, only to end up as a line cook. Elsie falls in love with Bashkim, but ends up pregnant and uncertain about what Bashkim is going to do about the family he left behind. The novel also follows her daughter, Luljeta, who seventeen years later try to discover what her mother has been hiding about the father she never knew. This use of parallel narratives to tell the story makes Brass a compelling read.

Glen Dawson - A Satirical Wake-up Call
FEATURED AUTHOR - After graduating from Duke University, Glen Dawson owned and operated a flexible packaging manufacturing plant for 23 years. Then, he sold the factory and went back to school to get his Master's degree in biostatistics from Boston University. When he moved to North Carolina, he opened an after-school learning academy for advanced math students in grades 2 through 12. After growing the academy from 30 to 430 students, he sold it to Art of Problem Solving. Since retiring from Art of Problem… Read more