Little Questions Everywhere: Questions from Non-Book Readers, Answers from Book Readers

[Haleth]

Quote

Was Mia African American in the book?

@Island girl  No.

[IslandGirl]

4 minutes ago, Haleth said:

@Island girl  No.

Thanks Haleth! Interesting...

[ElectricBoogaloo]

We've had similar threads like this for Game of Thrones and Outlander, so I thought it might be useful for Little Fires Everywhere too. Sometimes non-book readers have questions about the books but don't want to be spoiled, so here is the place to ask!

Book readers, please use the quote function to quote the question you are answering and be sure to put your answers under the spoiler tag. This allows non-book readers to find out the answers to their questions without being spoiled about everything else asked in the thread.

For example:

Quote

What is Elena's favorite color in the books?

 

Pink!

[healthnut]

On 4/5/2020 at 6:37 AM, Haleth said:

Was Mia African American in the book?

Celeste Ng says she wanted Mia to be African American but didn’t feel like as an Asian American that she was qualified to bring the African American female perspective to the book and do it justice, so she left it ambiguous. 

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, healthnut said:

Celeste Ng says she wanted Mia to be African American but didn’t feel like as an Asian American that she was qualified to bring the African American female perspective to the book and do it justice, so she left it ambiguous. 

I'm glad she did that because her portrayal of Brian, referring to his parents as "Cliff and Clair", was cringeworthy enough.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I read this book ages ago and I remember almost nothing about it but I'm 99% sure that it was not Lexie, Moody, and Trip who set the fire in the book. Am I misremembering?

[Empress1]

4 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I read this book ages ago and I remember almost nothing about it but I'm 99% sure that it was not Lexie, Moody, and Trip who set the fire in the book. Am I misremembering?

Spoiler

You’re right. In the book Izzy sets the fires on each of their beds when she thinks everyone is out. Elena is home but escaped unharmed.

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Empress1
Added spoiler tag

[OtterMommy]

32 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I read this book ages ago and I remember almost nothing about it but I'm 99% sure that it was not Lexie, Moody, and Trip who set the fire in the book. Am I misremembering?

I haven't watched the final episode left, but from what I've read in the episode thread, they changed quite a bit for the show.

1.  In the book, Izzy started the fire.  It was quite clear about that.

2. Bebe did kidnap Mai Ling and took her to China.  Obviously, her immigration status was different - while she undocumented in the show, she was a legal immigrant who had voiced a desire to return to China earlier in the story.  They also say the McCulloghs adopt another Chinese baby at some point later.

3. There was no blow up between Elena and Bill.  However, Bill was pretty much a paper cut-out in the book.

4. Mia tells Pearl about the Ryans and Pearl seems relatively okay about it?  Pearl does not meet the Ryans in the book.

I hope to have a chance to watch the episode today (kids' homeschool dependent, of course), but I'm sure there is much more.  I find these changes frustrating because it really sounds like they are trying for a second season and I wish they would just let the story of the book be the story of the show.  Not everything needs multiple seasons.

[alexvillage]

Never read the book and don't feel like it but what a shit show the writers did with the show. From what I am reading here, this is especially true with the Bebe story and how ridiculous the whole thing happened. UGH

[babyhouseman]

On 4/22/2020 at 11:53 AM, OtterMommy said:

In the book, Izzy started the fire.  It was quite clear about that.

I thought that's what happened. I read the book a few months ago, and I was pretty sure she started it. I thought it fit Izzy's character because she was spiraling out of control by not feeling like she fit in.

Also in the book, they go into the cause of the infertility of the woman in Mia's couple which was MRKH. That's when a woman has no uterus so she can never carry a baby. There are other physical and possible emotional issues for a MRKH woman. I found out about the book through a MRKH support group. I have the condition so I was more sympathetic to the infertile characters. Back then, infertility treatment and surrogacy was pretty new. But I do agree it was not wise to get a young girl off the subway. I think Mia's kidnapping Pearl was comparable to a sperm donor kidnapping his child from a couple where the man was infertile, and the wife had the baby. Both parents should matter. 

[teddysmom]

On 4/23/2020 at 7:24 AM, alexvillage said:

Never read the book and don't feel like it but what a shit show the writers did with the show. From what I am reading here, this is especially true with the Bebe story and how ridiculous the whole thing happened. UGH

I'm glad you said this. I was all in at first but by the last episode it just went off the rails. How did Bebe get in the house?? How long had she been gone?  No mother, hearing her child cry, wouldn't at least go check, she didn't have to pick her up, but you would check. God only knows what was happening, even if it wasn't someone kidnapping them. 

All the kids setting the fire? Yeah what does that solve? 

What Mia did was wrong. Her mother didn't disown her. She distinctly said "I love you..." Yes not letting her come to the funeral was awful, but then Mia just took off in Warren's magical car, which was a piece of junk when he had it, but somehow made several cross country trips and was still running 15 years later.  

I'm sorry if I had a photo worth almost half a million and I was sleeping on the floor and dragging my kid around the country, I'd have sold the photo right off the bat.