Pearl and Mia’s race is never specified in the book, though most readers assume they’re women of color. However, in the miniseries, what begins as a crime mystery turns into a psychological thriller about race as well as the book’s topics of class, motherhood, and identity.

In both cases, it’s implied that Izzy may have had something to do with it, but she’s nowhere to be found. Izzy often clashes with her own mother and seeks comfort from Mia, who seems to understand her better than anyone, while Lexie uses Pearl and Mia whenever she needs something.īoth the book and the miniseries begin with the Richardsons’ house on fire. His sisters Lexie and Izzy also find ways to worm themselves into Pearl and Mia’s lives. Trip, Moody’s older brother, catches Pearl’s eye early on. His mother Elena writes for a small paper, while his father Bill is a lawyer. Pearl doesn’t know anything about her family history but is glad when Mia promises that they’re going to stay in Shaker Heights for good.Īt Shaker, Pearl meets and befriends Moody Richardson, who is one of four children of an affluent family.

In addition to selling her work, Mia works several part-time jobs to make ends meet. Mia is an artist and photographer who travels the country with her teenage daughter, Pearl, moving from place to place as she completes each creative project. In both cases, the story follows the intertwined fates of two families living in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in the 90s. The general plot remains the same in the miniseries, though some of the details undergo significant changes. Celeste Ng’s second novel, Little Fires Everywhere was published in 2017 and adapted for the screen by Hulu in 2020.

Little fire everywhere book