Tag: celeste ng

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: A Review

“Later – and for the rest of his life – James will struggle to piece words to this feeling, and he will never quite manage to say, even to himself, what he really means. At this moment he can think only one thing: how was it possible, he wonders, to have been so wrong.”  – Celeste Ng, Everything I Never Told You

In this novel, Celeste Ng explores what happens to a family when one of the children, Lydia, dies. The circumstances of Lydia’s death are unclear – she left the house in the middle of the night, and later she was found, drowned in the local lake. The family struggles to come to terms with her death – was it murder? An accident? Suicide? And in seeking the answers, they begin to tear apart their bonds as a family. The parents, Marilyn and James Lee, and Lydia’s two remaining siblings, Nath and Hannah, are left protecting their secrets – and each other’s – as they struggle with their grief.

Ng excels at writing work that is both page-turning and deeply sympathetic to her characters. The tension created by Lydia’s death and the resulting reactions of her family developed so much tension that my chest actually felt tight as I read this book. It was only near the end, when Ng reveals the truth about what actually happened to Lydia that I felt like I was able to breathe again. Her writing evokes the vulnerability, loss and pain of her characters so realistically that at times I found it hard to keep reading. Marilyn and James, both thwarted in their own ambitions through circumstance, seek to realize their dreams through their children. The ambitions the Lees have – especially for Nath and Lydia, the two oldest – come from a place of love and the desire to create a better life for them, but result in both children hiding their true selves in an attempt to match themselves to the visions their parents have of them. Only Hannah, the youngest and often ignored child, notices all the small things the others miss: a significant look, a forgotten item, the sound of the front door opening and closing in the middle of the night.

The novel is an exploration of the ways in which families can both save and surrender us. They are the keepers of the deepest secrets, creators of the sharpest cuts. The Lee family clearly loves each other and this makes the story even more painful as the loss of Lydia drives them apart. Ng mingles perception, memory and truth to examine how complicated it is to truly see another, even those we think we know the best.

I have to say between this book and Little Fires Everywhere, any new novels by Celeste Ng will likely go straight to the top of my TRP. Have you read Everything I Never Told You? Drop me a line and let me know what you think. Until next time, happy reading!

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng: A Review

“One had followed the rules, and one had not. But the problem with rules… was that they implied a right way and a wrong way to do things. When, in fact, most of the time they were simply ways, none of them quite wrong or quite right, and nothing to tell you for sure what side of the line you stood on.” – Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere

I really, really liked this book. Set in the community of Shaker Heights, Little Fires Everywhere follows the story of two families: the Richardsons – a wealthy family with four teenaged children and their tenant, Mia Warren and her daughter, Pearl. Shaker Heights is a planned community where everything from the layout of the streets to the colours of the houses is carefully designed. The families of Shaker are rich, their children go on to prestigious universities, they give to the right charities, they help those in need. They follow the rules. They do what is right. Nobody embodies Shaker more than Elena Richardson, who was raised in the community and returned there to raise her own family. When Mia moves to Shaker, Elena sees the artist and her shy daughter as an opportunity to help someone deserving. Very quickly the two families become entwined via the children; Pearl becomes a fixture in the Richardson home while Izzy, Elena’s challenging youngest child, comes to idolize Mia. When a white couple in Shaker attempts to adopt a Chinese-American baby who was abandoned by her mother, a custody battle ensues that divides the community, and puts Elena and Mia on opposite sides.

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was how unexpected so much of it was.  As the novel progresses, secrets are revealed that threaten to pull both families apart. The narrative moves between Elena, Mia and each of the five children. Ng’s writing is like a slow burn. I found myself drawn in almost without noticing, and then I couldn’t stop reading. Ng reveals the complexities of family, especially the relationships between mothers and their children. She also examines what it means to follow the rules, and what it means to break them. Both Elena and Mia are strong characters with faith that their actions are the right ones and this sets them on a path that will eventually result in heartbreak for both of them. I think the reason the novel works so well is because Ng is careful not to create heroes or villains. Each character’s choices and feeling are understandable given their circumstances and this makes the events that unfold – some of them shocking – feel inevitable. Ng’s writing creates an immersive world in the suburbs of Cleveland that feels both familiar and alien as she pushes the readers’ boundaries about who is right and who is wrong in the conflicts she creates.

If you are looking for a book to read in the new year, you should pick up Little Fires Everywhere. I would really love to hear what you think about it and if you loved it as much as I did! Until next time, happy reading!