Little Fires Everywhere characters

Appears from the start

An itinerant artist and single mother who rents the Richardson family's small house in Shaker Heights. She supports herself with temporary work while making photographs, and she organizes her life around protecting Pearl and preserving the independence her art requires.

Appears from the start

Mia's fifteen-year-old daughter, accustomed to moving whenever her mother begins a new artistic project. The move to Shaker Heights offers a kind of settled, carefully ordered community she has rarely experienced.

Also known as Mrs. Richardson

Appears from the start

A journalist, landlord, and mother of four whose life is rooted in Shaker Heights and its carefully planned ideals. She rents a house to Mia at a reduced rate, regarding the arrangement as a generous way to help a deserving tenant.

Appears from the start

Elena's husband, an attorney and the steadier parent in the Richardson household. He shares the family's comfortable Shaker Heights life while approaching its conflicts with less certainty than his wife.

Appears from the start

The youngest Richardson child, regarded by her mother as difficult and impulsive. Izzy is angry at what she sees as hypocrisy and unfairness and has long resisted the behavior her orderly family expects from her.

Appears from the start

The youngest Richardson son and Pearl's first friend in Shaker Heights. Thoughtful and observant, he is curious about the new tenants and brings Pearl into his family's orbit.

Appears from the start

The eldest Richardson child, popular, athletic, and accustomed to easy attention. Pearl is immediately attracted to him, although he initially treats her mainly as his younger brother's friend.

Appears from the start

The elder Richardson daughter, a high-achieving student with a carefully managed public life and a long-term boyfriend. She welcomes Pearl into the family while casually drawing on Pearl's ideas and labor as if they were freely available to her.

First appears in chapter 5

A Chinese immigrant and Mia's coworker at a local restaurant. During a period of poverty after her boyfriend left, she abandoned her infant at a fire station. She has since regretted the decision and desperately wants her daughter back.

First appears in chapter 4

Elena's close friend, who with her husband has taken in an abandoned Chinese American baby after years of trying to have a child. Linda knows the child as Mirabelle and regards the pending adoption as the long-awaited completion of her family.

First appears in chapter 4

Linda's husband and Mirabelle's prospective adoptive father. He and Linda have built their lives around keeping the baby and believe their stable home makes them her rightful parents.

Also known as May Ling Chow, Mirabelle McCullough

First appears in chapter 4

The infant daughter at the center of a custody dispute. Her birth mother calls her May Ling; the McCulloughs, who are seeking to adopt her after she was left at a fire station, call her Mirabelle.

First appears in chapter 3

Lexie's boyfriend, a Black student whose relationship with her exposes differences between the Richardson family's self-image and their understanding of race. He cares for Lexie but recognizes evasions she would prefer not to examine.

First appears in chapter 14

A celebrated photographer who became Mia's teacher and closest artistic mentor in New York. Pauline and her partner Mal offered Mia a home and an example of a life built around art rather than convention.

First appears in chapter 14

Mia's beloved younger brother. Warren encouraged her art when they were growing up and remained the family member with whom she felt most fully understood.