Firefly Lane

Firefly Lane
Kristin Hannah
St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Fiction, Chick-Lit
Reviewed by Candace Mahoney

Tully has boobs and glamorous style. Kate has braces and glasses. Tully lives on the edge. Kate is happier not making waves. Kate is a people person, while Tully is, well, a Tully person. They seem to be complete opposites, yet somehow they become inseparable, each filling a void in the other’s life; soul-mates, in spite of -or perhaps because of - their differences.
The girls’ friendship forms in the mid-seventies when bras are being burnt and Gloria Steinem is on the march. Tully and Kate know that women from their generation can have it all, and they form a plan to do just that. But just as people grow and change, so can dreams. Tully has always been the stronger of the two, and when Kate realizes that her dreams are diverging from their agreed-upon path, she wonders whether she will find the strength to admit it to her best friend and to become her own person. Some things are so hard to say, even to your best friend. Especially to your best friend.
Kristin Hannah’s poignant story follows Tully and Kate across three decades, through jealousy and resentment, joy and sadness, support and, ultimately, betrayal. Impossible to put down, it has elements enough to resonate powerfully with just about everyone and will make you laugh and, yes, cry, so you may as well have the tissues ready from the get-go.