Little Fires Everywhere is able to go where author Celeste Ng couldn't in her book

The Atlantic

Liz Tigelaar's Hulu adaptation of Ng's bestseller "doesn’t just take the story from the page to the screen, but goes where Ng felt she couldn’t go on her own," says Shirley Li. "The show focuses on race as one of the crucial contrasts between Elena (Reese Witherspoon) and Mia (Kerry Washington). Though the book works without that detail, it presents a missed opportunity to make the relationship between the families even knottier. Shaker Heights residents take pride in the fact that their community was one of the first suburbs to racially integrate, for instance. If Ng had made Mia a woman of color, she could have delved further into that attitude through Elena. Plus, the dynamics between their families offer plenty of chances to incorporate race: The Richardsons often ogle the Warrens and pride themselves on knowing them; one of the children considers Pearl his 'claim' because he befriended her first. Elena is troubled by Mia and what she calls the “dark discomfort” that Mia inspires in her. And Mia cares deeply about ownership—of her art, of Pearl, and of her identity. In retrospect, Ng was clearly tiptoeing toward defining Mia’s race. Out of a feeling of authorial responsibility, she chose not to. But a TV series doesn’t have such a choice." ALSO: Little Fires Everywhere is a rare reminder of what the 1990s were actually like.