"Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

    In 1912, a religious group of Shakers lived near Cleveland and set up a town with many rules: rules about the streets, the homes, and the behaviour of the residents.  
  This novel takes place at the end of the 20th century, and the residents of Shaker Heights are no longer Shakers, but still live regimented lives. 
   The Richardson family have four teenagers, living this regimented life, when Mia and her daughter, Pearl, move into a townhouse owned by the Richardsons. Mia is a Bohemian artist who lives a very unorthodox life.  The contrast between these two families, forms much of the story.
  When I watched interviews with the author, she talked a lot about class and race.  She is Asian and, in the novel, questions whether a white couple can raise an Asian child.
  There is a theme of mother-daughter relationships and issues around adoption and abortion.
   This book is very popular and I have read many reviews from readers raving about the book.  Even the few criticisms of the book that I have seen, have not mentioned the one thing that JUMPED OUT at me.
  This novel begins at the end.  The 'little fires' mentioned in the title, break out in the first chapter.  The rest of the novel tells the backstory of everyone- why there were 'little fires', that turned into a big fire.
  I guess this is another example of how readers react differently to a book. The characters were important to other readers.  I was surprised about 'the form' of the story, loving a novel that uses the introduction to 'introduce the characters, time and place'.  I missed that format.

When I finished the book, I was interested in doing some research about the Shaker religion, and was fascinated by this picture of their singing and 'shaking'.  I just wished that it was a video!