She has four teenage children, three of whom are perfect, and one of whom, Izzy (Megan Stott), is the kind of kid who signals her rebellion by writing in magic marker on her forehead.
When it comes to kindness, what Elena gives with one hand, she’ll soon take back with the other.Ī reporter on a local newspaper, she lives in a plush arts-and-crafts-style house in a swanky bit of Cleveland, Ohio. It’s also strictly rationed, finding its perfect metaphor in the “four ounces” of wine to which she limits herself once evening has fallen. Elena’s much-vaunted kindness – another thing she has in common with Madeline – usually misfires for the simple reason that it is not innate, but an accomplishment that must be carefully performed, like genteel manners or good deportment. Yes, here is yet another interfering goody two shoes who lives or dies by her improbably huge, colour-coded calendar (seriously, it’s the same size as the Mappa Mundi, and about twice as complicated). In Little Fires Everywhere, adapted from the bestselling novel by Celeste Ng and now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Reese Witherspoon’s Elena Richardson bears a strikingly powerful resemblance to Madeline Mackenzie, her character in Big Little Lies.