Firefly Lane
Book - 2008
The #1 New York Times bestseller--now a #1 Netflix series!
In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all---beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer's end they've become TullyandKate. Inseparable.
So begins Kristin Hannah's magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.
From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness.
Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn't know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she'll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she'll envy her famous best friend. . . .
For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.
Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone's Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it's the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It's about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you---and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you'll never forget . . . one you'll want to pass on to your best friend.
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Add Age SuitabilityDanglingConversations thinks this title is suitable for between the ages of 14 and 25
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Add a CommentThanks to Book Club Cookbook and St. Martin's Griffin for a gifted copy. All comments and opinions are my own.
This was my first Kristin Hannah novel. It took me a little over 170 pages before I actually wanted to keep reading instead of feeling it was a duty to find out what everyone was raving about. This is the story of two friends who meet in 1974 when in middle school, and remain "best friends forever" for the next 30 years. I had read nearly half the novel before I began to care about these characters. Now that I've finished it, I'm still not sure how much I actually liked the book and if I would recommend it.
Themes of friendship and families, loyalty and trust are portrayed against the music, clothes, hairstyles, and culture of the 1970s and 1980s. The two girls are very different in personality and background, yet come to depend on each other for support like only best friends can. An additional theme that was repeatedly pondered by the characters was career vs. stay-at-home motherhood. I liked that the author didn't preach about this, and left the debate open-ended.
By the end of the novel I was sobbing - both because of the plot as well as because Tully and Kate's relationship reminded me of my own long-term friendship that started in high school, continued for decades and is now sadly lukewarm.
To sum it up, this is a novel of mothers and daughters, laughter and tears, love and loyalty, and the kind of friendship that only women can provide for each other.
This is not one of Hannah's better books. It is at its heart, an overly sentimental soap opera.
So good! Story of girls friendship that spans 30 Yrs, from age 14. A real page-turner!
I like to read the book before the movie. Hannah incorporated personal experience into her story of two friends growing up with parents of different styles, their challenges, loves, and search for personal identity. I was drawn to the main Washington state setting. This is one of her better novels.
If you watched Netflix and haven't read the book read the book. If you haven't watched Netflix do both! Both were raw, beautiful and emotional tales of friendships and families. Both start the same but take different turns which end up with significant outcomes but both are worth the time. I am hoping for a season 2 and am going to read the 2nd novel. I am also going to read more from Kristin Hannah (after I finish the 3rd in this series!)
Requested this book after watching the Netflix series that ended in a cliff hanger! Was looking to have it resolved but the book varied quite a bit from the series. Both are good but in this rare instance I think the series is better! Hope there is a season two :-)
1974. 8th grade. Forgettable? Or best forgotten?
Kristin Hannah is turning out to be one of my favorite authors. I'm writing this review after just finishing this novel and I can't even put into words how great it really is! I had no idea what this novel was really going to be about but I loved it from beginning to end. Of course, I feel a connection to the setting as I live near Snohomish (where the girls grow up) and the Pacific Northwest but I also felt such a connection to so many of these characters and want to be apart of this family and friendship. So much happens to TullyandKate during the 30 years and sometimes you want to laugh, cry, feel broken-hearted and sometimes you can relate to how they are feeling during the specific time in their life. I just couldn't put this book down....I was completely obsessed! Now seeing that it is going to be a Netflix series, I can only hope they do this book justice. Read it and add it to your next Book Club books because there will be so much to discuss.
Went slower than most of her books but a wonderful story of the unconditional love in rare and lasting friendship. Fly Away is the sequel and It’s really important to read these in sequence
Slow start but beautifully touching ending. I'm glad I stuck with it. Not my favorite Kristin Hannah book, but her writing is still so good. She has a way of transporting you into the lives of her characters.