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.
Book Overview:
Author: Kristin Hannah | Series: Firefly Lane | Format: Audiobook | Narrated By: Susan Ericksen | Length: 17 hours and 54 minutes | Publish Date: April 29, 2008 | Genre: Women's Fiction | Literary Awards: Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award (RT Award) Nominee for Women's Fiction (2008) | Rating: ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: Maybe
“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 were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours. ”
I'm not much of a women's fiction type of reader, so I had a lot of reservations about reading this. I don't remember why I was reading this, probably for a book club that I didn't end up going to (I have a bad habit of NOT finishing the books on time but getting to them months later after everyone forgot about it). But anyway, once I started I just wanted to get it over with.
I don't know if that's a good or bad thing at the moment, but I do know that it was a little better than I thought it would be. I kept waiting for the huge betrayal that the synopsis mentioned and I feel like I had to wait until almost the end of the book for it to happen, but trust me. You knew what it was once it happened. And trust me. It was a pretty bad betrayal.
So this book was about two girls that end up becoming best friends forever, from when they first met in middle school until their middle age life - pretty much their entire lives. The story is broken into decades, since of course it makes sense to see Tully and Kate grow into themselves by the years. It was a nice story, although the ending really broke my heart. It was nice to see how different their paths were after leaving school, even though their dreams seemed to be one and the same. I also really liked the success story of Tully, how she stuck to her guns and did whatever she needed to in order to make her dream come true. She didn't let her circumstances stop her from getting what she wanted, and the love that Tully and Kate had for one another was one that I wish I had with my own best friend. Of course, there were moments of jealousy just like any other girl friends - or even guy friends, but that's another story - but they were always able to support one another when it really mattered.
I don't think I'll read the sequel since one of the main characters of it is a person that I absolutely hated, but don't knock it if you want to find out what happens next. It wasn't terrible, just not my cup of tea.
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