Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
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.
Review: In 1974, Kate Mularkey is an eighth grader with a great family but dismal social prospects. That is until a beautiful, cool girl moves in across the street and somehow also wants to be friends with her. From there on out, Kate and Tully were inseparable. For thirty years, the pair enjoy a beautiful friendship, although not without its fights and complicated dynamics. The two could not be more opposite. Kate has a loving family and secretly dreams of a life as a fulltime mother. Meanwhile, Tully has almost no family to her name and carries deep scars from her addict mother's rejection. And Tully has big, huge dreams of a career in journalism, but struggles to build real connections beyond that she shares with Kate and her family.
This was such a beautiful story about lifelong female friendship. Author Kristin Hannah really captures the nuances of a close and long-lasting female friendship, which almost always has its ups and downs: "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" (273). The sense of shared history, of a friendship that transcends minor disagreements and hurts to truly become a family is achingly real. I also thought it was so fun that larger than life Tully achieves her career dreams.
Like nearly all Kristin Hannah books, this one will make you cry. The ending is just so, so sad, albeit extremely touching. Kate and Tully are really complicated characters, and this bleeds over into other relationships. Most notably, Kate's husband Johnny was besotted with Tully first and there is always some tension there and insecurity on Kate's part about where her husband's true feelings lie. Tully, despite her many great traits, can be selfish and seems constitutionally incapable of apologizing, even when she is very clearly at fault. I loved that the characters and the relationship itself all feel flawed. And yet, love triumphs over it all.
Stars: 4
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