Firefly Lane

Firefly Lane is apparently Kristin Hannah's fifteenth novel, and given the quality of the writing contained therein, I'm not certain I want to imagine how the earlier fourteen must read. This book reads as if a thirteen-year-old girl has set out to pen the saddest, most heart-wrenching story in, like, EVER. Alternately, it reads like online fanfiction for some television series you've never actually watched: the characters are obviously well-rounded, complex, and likeable to Hannah, but convey all the dimensionality of a sheet of notebook paper.

Put plainly, Hannah can’t show a story to save her life, so she tells it to readers, over and over and over and over again. Indeed, what little development the characters display, they gain show more through the sheer stultifying weight of Hannah's endless repetition of their informed attributes. I'm hard-pressed to conceive of two more unlikable protagonists: one so passive and spineless readers will long to reach into the pages and smack her silly themselves, the other so obliviously self-absorbed it defies the limits of suspended disbelief.

As for the plot, it's as if our author got ahold of every episode of every soap opera produced in the last three decades, stuck them all in a blender, and hit puree. It's all here, folks: deadbeat teenage druggie mothers and the abandoned children who love them, date rape, parents who "love my friend more than me," May-December romances complete with "what could have been" bittersweet endings, wise mothers dispensing cliché-ridden life advice, best-friend love triangles, emotionally distant lovers, bosses, and children; war trauma, miscarriage, best-friends-forever torn apart by implausible misunderstandings beyond their control, gut-wrenching betrayals, tearful reconciliations, and a bonus cancer "tragedy" at the end that forces readers to grit their teeth and slog through over one-hundred pages of protracted deathbed scenes.

In conclusion, this book resembles nothing so much as a fast food hamburger: you consume even though you know it has no nutritional value whatsoever, it causes mild discomfort to your digestive tract, and then you forget all about it. show less

This was my first Kristin Hannah book.

I felt there was not enough emotional development until it was too late and some of the plot was derivative (To be honest, I hated that an author testimonial on the back mentioned Iris Dart’s “Beaches,” because half way through the book I knew how it would end 😤); However, I disagree with some of the more scathing reviews that indicate the characters were too one-dimensional to relate to them.

I have known Kate’s and Tully’s, and although we can focus on the lack of emotional growth (as individuals, which honestly was minor considering “growth” IS a lifelong process), and the codependence of their friendship, they still felt “real” enough for me to appreciate their struggles with show more the inherent feelings of love and betrayal. Kate and Tully are so different, but it is their differences that allowed them to rely on one another’s strengths and/or enable the other. They were also there for one another at the drop of a hat. “That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips are down, they were there, making you laugh in your darkest hours.”

The writing was good and the end was definitely worth the read even knowing where it was heading!

The mother-daughter relationship theme is explored throughout the book. The damage created by lack of bonding and nurturing, the strength created by proper bonding and nurturing, and the inherent difficulties in “growing” children into adults.

I grew up in the 70s/80s and the musical and fashion references made me chuckle.

The ending though…I did some ugly crying there. Some have said that it’s too long. I found it to be perfect, as it realistically depicted what a drawn out and devastating process some life experiences can be.

Favorite quotes:
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Kate: “I often find myself more interested in what comes after the story than the story itself. I’m better, I believe, at long-range thinking and planning. Details, rather than broad strokes.”
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“Motherhood at times like this – most times – was about the steel in your spine, not the bend.” show less

Thanks 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 show more 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. show less

This is by far, one of the hardest reviews I have ever had to write. I say this because by the end, I was just so emotionally invested in the story, in the words on the page. I had actually requested the sequel, Fly Away, from the publisher for review, and then realized it was a sequel and bought the first for Kindle because I hate reading books out of order.

We have all been the awkward, gawky teenager at least at one time in our lives. That would be Kate. Tully is the girl that we all always wanted to be, based on what we could see on the outside. She seemed strong, confident, and everyone liked her. But that was just the exterior, the shell. It was no reflection of who she was inside and what she was hiding. Because Tully had a show more secret. She had been broken.

The story of friendship in this book resonated so strongly to me. The movie, Beaches, with Bette Midler has long been one of my favorite films, and among the only "chick flicks" I will readily admit to liking.

I don't generally read this type of book. I tend to stay in the realm of fantasy because sometimes reality can be raw with broken edges and it can make you cry. In that regard, this book was true to form and did not disappoint. I cried like a blubbering baby.

Because, you see, I had a best friend. I met her when I was 13 years old. Just like in the book, we were almost polar opposites. But we melded together and we were just like Tully and Kate, in many ways. We now live nearly 2000 miles apart, but the bond is still there and we are always there for each other when we needed one another.

Ms. Hannah is an absolutely beautifully gifted storyteller and I cannot believe that I had not picked up one of her books before now. Firefly Lane will touch your heart. The story is beautifully crafted and the world the characters are painted in is done so well, you will feel as though you are riding down the hill with them with your hands stretched out, feeling like you are flying. You will feel as though you are sitting on the beach holding each other's hands, holding back the tears.

More than all of that, though, this story has a very clear message. It would be really hard for me to get into the details of that message without giving the story away, but please, if you read the book, make sure you read the postscript as well and heed the message therein. The story touches on issues that have touched my family. Maybe that makes it more real for me, harder for me to feel anything but empowered by this story, but there it is just the same.

best friend. I met her when I was 13 years old. Just like in the book, we were almost polar opposites. But we melded together and we were just like Tully and Kate, in many ways. We now live nearly 2000 miles apart, but the bond is still there and we are always there for each other when we needed one another.

Ms. Hannah is an absolutely beautifully gifted storyteller and I cannot believe that I had not picked up one of her books before now. Firefly Lane will touch your heart. The story is beautifully crafted and the world the characters are painted in is done so well, you will feel as though you are riding down the hill with them with your hands stretched out, feeling like you are flying. You will feel as though you are sitting on the beach holding each other's hands, holding back the tears.

More than all of that, though, this story has a very clear message. It would be really hard for me to get into the details of that message without giving the story away, but please, if you read the book, make sure you read the postscript as well and heed the message therein. The story touches on issues that have touched my family. Maybe that makes it more real for me, harder for me to feel anything but empowered by this story, but there it is just the same. show less

Kate & Tully meet on Firefly Lane. Theirs will be a friendship that follows them from the first buds of adolescence through the span of their lives. And while their fealty takes a few hits to the armor, they always return to devotion. Their story begins in the mid 70’s and continues to the present. The author has well represented all eras with both pop culture references and historical events. This, I predict, will be a seduction for many book clubs looking to recall times in their own youth.

While I usually enjoy character driven tales, this one was not a favorite. I felt I was being led down a path of calculated emotional exploitation. And could the editor have offered a bit more restraint? The novel could have easily been chopped show more in half. If I’d heard the term “Earth Shoes” one more time…... redundancy was a serious issue. I don't need to be beat over the head; subtlety was non-existent. It seems the author used some “drop description here” formula. I found further frustration with continuity errors, clichés and homogenization of the character’s traits.
Being the info. queen that I am, I had to pop over to the author’s website to see what she was all about. There I found a really nice gal with many of my own interests. This made me sad; I’d really disliked her book. Luckily, I had another book of hers on my unread shelf so I pulled On Mystic Lake and read it in one day, happy to find a better choice.

I think it was more than Firefly Lane's writing style that turned me off; it was the standardization of really deep female relationships. I was a bit miffed that she’d fallen into the typical clichés. I wondered if she’d ever experienced the deep commitment of having the same girlfriend from the age of 11. This book might appeal to folks who’ve never experienced that commitment, but I think those of us who’ve been through 30 years with a girl pal will find it all too manufactured.
All that spewed: If you like stories about girls growing up into womanhood, Firefly Lane might be an easy, beach-style read for you.

Review first published on Many A Quaint & Curious Volume show less

This beautiful story of family and friendship left me struggling to read the last two chapters through tears. The book begins when Tully's drug addict mother claims her from her grandmother and moves to a rural house across the street from the Mularkey family. The girls are in junior high school and Kate Mularkey feels unpopular and unhappy. Tully, who Kate sees as rather glamorous, befriends Tully and a life-long relationship begins and continues even though their adult paths are quite different. I found the characters both very real and very sympathetic. I will definitely seek out more book by Ms. Hannah.

This warm, heartfelt read beautifully captures the highs and lows of a thirty-year friendship. This was my third Kristin Hannah novel, and her writing continues to impress. She has a way of making the characters feel like friends and that their lives are so familiar. Each time I picked it up, I felt cozy and connected, yet entire chapters had me sobbing because the friendships and emotions are so richly portrayed. It’s a nostalgic, relatable story that feels both epic and fleeting, and though it didn’t change my life, it was a charming reading experience. I recommend it for a cozy, feel-good read!