Status
Available
Series
Genres
Publication
St. Martin's Griffin (2009), Edition: First, 528 pages
Description
Inseparable best friends Kate and Tully, two young women who, despite their very different lives, have vowed to be there for each other forever, have been true to their promise for thirty years, until events and choices in their lives tear them apart.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member margrieta
I found this book quite irritating to read, unfortunately. The writing style is juvenile and hackneyed which made it a struggle just to open it each night to get through it. I would normally have just put it down, but wanted to get through it to be able to write this review. In a way I am glad that
However, even this last section is plagued by trivial writing. Hackneyed and cliche each sentence seems like we've read it somewhere else before. Each similie is spelled out for us painfully. Perhaps Hanna doesn't trust us to understand her comparisons. Many times outright comparisons are presented as similies along the lines of telling us the yard had an untended look as if long ago a young mother had spent her spring months outside planting...and over the years ...the time for gardening had been lost. No need for "as if". Just tell us what happened. "She walked into the house finally at 5am -- her makeup looked like she had been out all night," could be more effectively written, "When she finally walked into the house at 5am she was bedraggled. Her makeup suffered the look of the hours she'd been up." It isn't "as if" she were out all night ; she was out all night.
Hannah also forgets what here characters are doing from moment to moment. One character tells the other, who is pregnant that they should discuss baby names, then they spend two hours avoiding talking about the baby. Perhaps talking baby names does not count as talking about the baby. One character makes a public appology to the other on television and says, "I'm sorry, Katie," in a direct quote. The next page Katie says "...without actually saying the words. You meant that you were sorry." Hmmm.
And you'd best note that those aren't just any chairs they sit in out back, they are Adirondack chairs -- every single time they are mentioned.
But most infuriating is the characters themselves. They are all cardboard cutouts: the selfish one who can't appologize, the co-dependant outcast who needs her BFF at all costs, the mother who cares for them both and knows just the right thing to say at any time, even if those things seem contradictory to her flat character. At turns they are shy and nervous and clingy, then pushy or strong and spiteful. But neither characteristic seems to spring from their true selves. They treat each other to the sort of banter one expects to hear on Maury Pauvitch, then we are told how important it is for them to hear each other's words. Hannah can't seem to find a balance between sensitive and humorous, reaches to far in both directions, and then uses the two extremes intermittantly without regard to the moment.
We are told over and over how important the friendship between these two is, but when they act one is an irresponsible poison that takes all she can and spreads despair and heartache througoht the life of her friend and her friend's family, while the other is so spineless and needy that she succumbs every single time to every single scheme against (we are told) her better judgment only to be knocked down time and again. "Don't you trust me?" is never a phrase that used be actual trust exists. It is a threat that means, "I know that you're afraid if you don't follow me you may lose me."
Of course as the selfish one gets richer she does treat her friend to the occasional spa day and one vacation in Hawaii. And she learns her lesson after she finds out her friend is dying and begins to try learning some responsibility and compassion.
Hannah has written 15 novels and is a New York Times bestseller. I hope that means this is just a outlier as such a poorly written story and that her other books are deserving of such accomplishment. But I'm no longer intersted in reading any more of her work to find out.
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I did because once the main crisis of the book occurs in the final 15% or so, the writing and story arc improves considerably -- it is as if Hannah had decided she wanted to write another BFF book where one of the heroines is facing cancer, and had worked out that portion of the story when she started writing, but then decided she needed to fill us in on the entire lifelong friendship first. Maybe to make sure that the story arc followed Beaches more closely.However, even this last section is plagued by trivial writing. Hackneyed and cliche each sentence seems like we've read it somewhere else before. Each similie is spelled out for us painfully. Perhaps Hanna doesn't trust us to understand her comparisons. Many times outright comparisons are presented as similies along the lines of telling us the yard had an untended look as if long ago a young mother had spent her spring months outside planting...and over the years ...the time for gardening had been lost. No need for "as if". Just tell us what happened. "She walked into the house finally at 5am -- her makeup looked like she had been out all night," could be more effectively written, "When she finally walked into the house at 5am she was bedraggled. Her makeup suffered the look of the hours she'd been up." It isn't "as if" she were out all night ; she was out all night.
Hannah also forgets what here characters are doing from moment to moment. One character tells the other, who is pregnant that they should discuss baby names, then they spend two hours avoiding talking about the baby. Perhaps talking baby names does not count as talking about the baby. One character makes a public appology to the other on television and says, "I'm sorry, Katie," in a direct quote. The next page Katie says "...without actually saying the words. You meant that you were sorry." Hmmm.
And you'd best note that those aren't just any chairs they sit in out back, they are Adirondack chairs -- every single time they are mentioned.
But most infuriating is the characters themselves. They are all cardboard cutouts: the selfish one who can't appologize, the co-dependant outcast who needs her BFF at all costs, the mother who cares for them both and knows just the right thing to say at any time, even if those things seem contradictory to her flat character. At turns they are shy and nervous and clingy, then pushy or strong and spiteful. But neither characteristic seems to spring from their true selves. They treat each other to the sort of banter one expects to hear on Maury Pauvitch, then we are told how important it is for them to hear each other's words. Hannah can't seem to find a balance between sensitive and humorous, reaches to far in both directions, and then uses the two extremes intermittantly without regard to the moment.
We are told over and over how important the friendship between these two is, but when they act one is an irresponsible poison that takes all she can and spreads despair and heartache througoht the life of her friend and her friend's family, while the other is so spineless and needy that she succumbs every single time to every single scheme against (we are told) her better judgment only to be knocked down time and again. "Don't you trust me?" is never a phrase that used be actual trust exists. It is a threat that means, "I know that you're afraid if you don't follow me you may lose me."
Of course as the selfish one gets richer she does treat her friend to the occasional spa day and one vacation in Hawaii. And she learns her lesson after she finds out her friend is dying and begins to try learning some responsibility and compassion.
Hannah has written 15 novels and is a New York Times bestseller. I hope that means this is just a outlier as such a poorly written story and that her other books are deserving of such accomplishment. But I'm no longer intersted in reading any more of her work to find out.
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LibraryThing member Detail_Muse
From the first paragraph’s reference to Little Kiddles (I hadn’t thought of them in decades!), I wanted so much to like this big, easy read about pop culture and enduring friendships. In the end, though, I couldn’t persevere to finish the book.
It didn’t take long after that first paragraph
***POSSIBLE SPOILER*** I did read the final chapter and the author’s postscript. If a goal is to increase awareness of inflammatory breast cancer, perhaps the author could write an article or essay about it -- numerous newspapers/magazines would welcome such a piece, particularly when it ties in with the release of a new novel.
It didn’t take long after that first paragraph
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to feel bludgeoned -- black and blue -- from the author’s lack of subtlety and extreme overuse of period details. And rather than inhabiting the characters, the narrative style -- broad, sweeping summaries -- felt distant and unemotional. Perhaps that’s why the characters seemed unsympathetic and flat -- self-centered, assertive Tully; mousy Kate.***POSSIBLE SPOILER*** I did read the final chapter and the author’s postscript. If a goal is to increase awareness of inflammatory breast cancer, perhaps the author could write an article or essay about it -- numerous newspapers/magazines would welcome such a piece, particularly when it ties in with the release of a new novel.
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LibraryThing member istoria
This book was such a disappointment. The characters were completely one dimensional and not at all interesting. The storyline was filled with cliches from every bad Lifetime movie. About three quarters of the way through, I somehow knew how it would end (because it was the one cliche that hadn't
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been hit yet). The book itself is primarily dialouge and not good one at that. The only part that caused any reaction in me was the end. And as the author had personal experience in it, it was obvious that this was the part she truly cared about. I just wish that had been present in the rest of the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member PensiveCat
Basically this is a book about friendship, and its ups and downs through the decades. It's a quick and easy read, and at times painfully relatable. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys chick flicks and VH1's "I Love the 70's/80s/90s, etc.)
It was rather heavily cliched, though, and borrows
There were also a number of typos, but I imagine this will be corrected in time for its general release.
Would I pick this book if it weren't an Early Reviewer book? Probably not, but I wouldn't talk someone out of it if it's their thing. There is an excellent breast cancer awareness message at the end of the story, so I give the author credit for that above everything.
It was rather heavily cliched, though, and borrows
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heavily from Beaches, Terms of Endearment, and the Lifetime channels. The painful death of a main character is drawn out to the point of frustration (I almost screamed out, "Die already!"). Still, there are nice life lessons thrown in there, mostly along the lines of keeping your loved ones close, and love survives everything. There were also a number of typos, but I imagine this will be corrected in time for its general release.
Would I pick this book if it weren't an Early Reviewer book? Probably not, but I wouldn't talk someone out of it if it's their thing. There is an excellent breast cancer awareness message at the end of the story, so I give the author credit for that above everything.
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LibraryThing member sky34
This story of lifetime friendship between two women covers much-trodden ground. Tully and Kate meet in high school, and Firefly Lane chronicles the ups and downs of friendship over a thirty year period. The key to a story like this one is creating the reader's emotional attachment to the
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characters, and the characters' development over time. Unfortunately, this is where this story falls flat. Tully, abandoned by her mother as a child, stereotypically craves the spotlight, and burns with ambition to become a successful newswoman. Kate, from a loving home, is the faithful sidekick, whose voice gets lost while adopting Tully's dreams as her own. Constant references to songs from the 70s to the 90s detract from the story rather than adding to it. I am a lover of women's fiction, and started this book prepared to love it. By the end of the book, though, rather than feeling emotional, as the story demanded, I felt relieved that I could close this overlong book and move on to something more engaging. Show Less
LibraryThing member dodger
Kristian Hannah’s "Firefly Lane" is an extensive tale of the thirty-plus year friendship of Kate Mularkey and Tallulah “Tully” Hart, or “TullyandKate”, as they come to refer to themselves. The story follows the lives of the two girls from the formation of their friendship as teenagers in
Thirty-something readers will likely find "Firefly Lane" to be a nostalgic journey through four decades of bad haircuts, poor fashion choices, pop icons, and music of our past. Unfortunately, at times, the multiple references to past culture seem to get in the way of the story.
I found the characters to be a little cliché, but ultimately likeable. The plot was, at times, a little overly contrived, but for the most part the story moved along nicely and I was usually excited to turn the page to find out what happened next. However, while I found the story generally captivating, it was also often very predictable. Not once was I truly surprised by anything. For most of the story, it reads less like a novel and more like the script for a tug-at-your-heart made for TV movie. Devoted viewers of cable networks like Lifetime will likely love this book.
My biggest complaint would be that Hannah seemed to cover seemingly unimportant moments in the characters' lives in great detail while glossing over some very big moments. At a couple of points in the novel, the author builds a compelling scene—moments that the reader can see are going to greatly change the lives of those involved—only to resolve several pages of a plot arch in a paragraph or two before jumping ahead a few years in the story.
Without spoiling anything, I will just say that I didn’t love the ending; however, I certainly do feel that the author handled her chosen ending in a very gratifying way.
All in all, by the second half of the book I found my self engaged in the lives of Tully and Kate and didn’t want to set the book down. Despite the things I didn’t like about this novel, ultimately I did really enjoy it.
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the’70s through their often unsteady adulthood relationship set in present-day. Thirty-something readers will likely find "Firefly Lane" to be a nostalgic journey through four decades of bad haircuts, poor fashion choices, pop icons, and music of our past. Unfortunately, at times, the multiple references to past culture seem to get in the way of the story.
I found the characters to be a little cliché, but ultimately likeable. The plot was, at times, a little overly contrived, but for the most part the story moved along nicely and I was usually excited to turn the page to find out what happened next. However, while I found the story generally captivating, it was also often very predictable. Not once was I truly surprised by anything. For most of the story, it reads less like a novel and more like the script for a tug-at-your-heart made for TV movie. Devoted viewers of cable networks like Lifetime will likely love this book.
My biggest complaint would be that Hannah seemed to cover seemingly unimportant moments in the characters' lives in great detail while glossing over some very big moments. At a couple of points in the novel, the author builds a compelling scene—moments that the reader can see are going to greatly change the lives of those involved—only to resolve several pages of a plot arch in a paragraph or two before jumping ahead a few years in the story.
Without spoiling anything, I will just say that I didn’t love the ending; however, I certainly do feel that the author handled her chosen ending in a very gratifying way.
All in all, by the second half of the book I found my self engaged in the lives of Tully and Kate and didn’t want to set the book down. Despite the things I didn’t like about this novel, ultimately I did really enjoy it.
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LibraryThing member kathy_h
i guess i should begin by saying i'm not a chick lit fan, and maybe i should've realized what i was getting myself into with firefly lane! i found it to be incredibly formulaic and contrived, and the plot almost identical to beaches (seriously, i'm thinking lawsuit). the friendship between the two
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main characters was supposed to be "forever" and such a strong force in their lives, yet it felt hollow. all of the characters in the book were too perfect. it totally did not work for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member debissot
I loved this book! Definitely a tear jerker, which I enjoy every so often. Great character development! Kristin Hannah is such a wonderful author.
LibraryThing member karenthecroccy
Wow, such a lengthy book for such a fluff novel. It seems that most of my criticisms about recently published books have to do with being concise and true. This book is cliched and wandering. In high school, we were taught to show, not tell, when it came to writing short stories and poems. Kristen
That said ... this book isn't something I'd recommend to anyone. There are other books and other authors who've delved into this genre, this story, heck, even similar plot lines (Beaches, anyone?) better than Kristen Hannah. Characters are not meant to remain cardboard cutouts! I also felt as though I was being forced, as a reader, to feel certain things that I wouldn't necessarily feel. I'm supposed to like these characters, right? Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.
What concerns me most is the fact this author has written many other novels yet this one read like a first. I'm curious to see about a few of her other books, some of which have been positively reviewed by the majority of people.
But perhaps this sort of novel isn't my thing.
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Hannah could have really benefit from this direction.That said ... this book isn't something I'd recommend to anyone. There are other books and other authors who've delved into this genre, this story, heck, even similar plot lines (Beaches, anyone?) better than Kristen Hannah. Characters are not meant to remain cardboard cutouts! I also felt as though I was being forced, as a reader, to feel certain things that I wouldn't necessarily feel. I'm supposed to like these characters, right? Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.
What concerns me most is the fact this author has written many other novels yet this one read like a first. I'm curious to see about a few of her other books, some of which have been positively reviewed by the majority of people.
But perhaps this sort of novel isn't my thing.
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LibraryThing member NCDonnas
2.5 rounded up. This was like several Lifetime movies condensed into one book. It's like someone made a grab bag of basic plot tropes and said "try to fit all of these into one book" and so it was done. With that being said - I enjoyed the story for the most part. I wish the characters would have
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had more depth and would have shown some growth throughout this long audio. They remained very flat and one dimensional throughout. I very much enjoyed the audio narration. I think with a less capable narrator, this would have been a DNF for me. I doubt I will read anything more by this author. Show Less
LibraryThing member momgee
When fourteen year old Kate first saw her new neighbor Tully at the bus stop, little did she know this would be the beginning of a life long friendship. Two young girls on the cusp of womanhood, seemingly opposites on the outside, have a lot in common on the inside. Set in the Pacific northwest
This is also a wonderful story of mothers and daughters fraught with the joy and angst of their intricate relationships. A story line that explores life’s hopes and dreams, some shattered, some realized, develops over a span of 30 plus years as Tully and Kate find out who they are and what is really important in life.
This is a book I found hard to put down. The story line is excellently written as Hannah brings an emotional depth to the characters that is extremely compelling. The characters are so well developed and plausible, you can’t help being engaged with them throughout the entire book. Along with Kate and Tully, the peripheral characters greatly enhance the story line,particularly the two girls' mothers. The time frame is described perfectly with all the accoutrements of the day: the music, the dress, the social attitudes. It was like reliving it all over again. All these elements together make for a magical tale, one that will deeply resonate with the reader for a long time. I just loved it! 5*
A sincere thank you to Reading Group Gold/St. Martin’s Press for the book and the opportunity to participate in this wonderful program
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during the turbulent 70’s Tully and Kate’s burgeoning friendship sets the tone of the book. They will be best friends forever they assure each other. Even through the most trying of times, they are there for each other. Granted, there are bumps along the way, even a betrayal of trust and a little heartache, but whose life journey does not include such hurdles? This is also a wonderful story of mothers and daughters fraught with the joy and angst of their intricate relationships. A story line that explores life’s hopes and dreams, some shattered, some realized, develops over a span of 30 plus years as Tully and Kate find out who they are and what is really important in life.
This is a book I found hard to put down. The story line is excellently written as Hannah brings an emotional depth to the characters that is extremely compelling. The characters are so well developed and plausible, you can’t help being engaged with them throughout the entire book. Along with Kate and Tully, the peripheral characters greatly enhance the story line,particularly the two girls' mothers. The time frame is described perfectly with all the accoutrements of the day: the music, the dress, the social attitudes. It was like reliving it all over again. All these elements together make for a magical tale, one that will deeply resonate with the reader for a long time. I just loved it! 5*
A sincere thank you to Reading Group Gold/St. Martin’s Press for the book and the opportunity to participate in this wonderful program
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LibraryThing member DianaCoats
So...where do I begin? Since my teenage years I have often been spellbound by stories like this -- and by "like this" I do mean formulaic and expected--but this time I struggled. Maybe I've grown away from them, or maybe I am just not feeling like a Lifetime or Oxygen movie. The bottom line is that
You can take me back to the seventies with far less "product placement" than was apparent in the book.
Obviously, Kristin Hannah has a great following and I was very grateful to get an Advanced copy of her book, that being said, I did not joyfully read it and I never did really end up identifying with the characters. It reminded me of seeing a bad movie made out of a book I really enjoyed. This felt like it could be a GREAT lifetime movie--Maybe it WAS--and then someone spoiled it by writing a book about it.
I hesitate to be so negative because I am so grateful to be part of the Early Reviewers group...on the other hand, well...gosh darn it...it's the truth.
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from page one I felt like it was a little too set up.You can take me back to the seventies with far less "product placement" than was apparent in the book.
Obviously, Kristin Hannah has a great following and I was very grateful to get an Advanced copy of her book, that being said, I did not joyfully read it and I never did really end up identifying with the characters. It reminded me of seeing a bad movie made out of a book I really enjoyed. This felt like it could be a GREAT lifetime movie--Maybe it WAS--and then someone spoiled it by writing a book about it.
I hesitate to be so negative because I am so grateful to be part of the Early Reviewers group...on the other hand, well...gosh darn it...it's the truth.
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LibraryThing member MonicaLynn
Wow, this is the first book I have read by Kristin and I truly and throughly enjoyed every word. For me this was a paged turner that grabbed my attention from word one through the end of the book. So many times I felt like I was just pulled in to the time and era that she was writing about. The
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friendship between Tully and Kate starts in 1970's and takes you right on through to the end though each era for 30 some odd years. Through their good and bad times, love, success, marriage, children and so on. I would highly recommend this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member avanders
Well, this was actually disappointing. It started off really well. It had a similar feeling to Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, which I quite liked. But after a few hundred pages, I felt like I was re-reading, over and over again, the same passages, the same stories, at times even the same
The book isn't bad. At all. I just didn't feel like it was really ready for publication. In addition to several typos and grammatical errors, the book needs more finessing and could probably lose 200 or so pages (with a tightening up of the story and rewriting several areas). Although untrue, it felt as though the author started out tracking two lives over a few decades, but then felt like she had to throw in some real drama to make sure it was, I don't know, exciting enough? But the result was a weakening of the original structure with a climax that fell far short of being climactic. It was also hard for me to believe the sincerity and steadfastness of a friendship that was *defined* but not *portrayed*. It was never quite convincing that either of the girls actually *cared* for the other and weren't, instead, merely acting out of jealousy or obligation.
In the end, I was surprised at how quickly my impression of the book changed... at 250 pages, I still felt it was quite good and I was planning out who I would recommend it to first... at 330 pages, I found myself turning pages with a scowl on my face. Even so, I still tore through the pages. I can't give this book a horrible rating because it simply wasn't horrible. But it was a bit too simplistic to have left any lasting impression.
On the plus side (there are plus sides!), the book was very easy to read, fun (most of the time), and informative. The information and facts on the political landscape through the decades, while sometimes forced and awkward, were also interesting and placed the reader fairly quickly into that decade's mindset. I was also impressed with the author's ability to write from the perspective of the girls in each decade relatively convincingly... Her portrayal of teens in the 70s was equally convincing as her portrayal of young ladies in their mid 20s in the 80s.
Overall, an average rating for an average book.
NOTE: This review is based on an ARC.
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words. In addition to its repetitive nature in the story and sentences, the foreshadowing became so transparent and unsettling that I found myself, for the first time EVER, flipping to a later point in the book in frustration and disgust. The book isn't bad. At all. I just didn't feel like it was really ready for publication. In addition to several typos and grammatical errors, the book needs more finessing and could probably lose 200 or so pages (with a tightening up of the story and rewriting several areas). Although untrue, it felt as though the author started out tracking two lives over a few decades, but then felt like she had to throw in some real drama to make sure it was, I don't know, exciting enough? But the result was a weakening of the original structure with a climax that fell far short of being climactic. It was also hard for me to believe the sincerity and steadfastness of a friendship that was *defined* but not *portrayed*. It was never quite convincing that either of the girls actually *cared* for the other and weren't, instead, merely acting out of jealousy or obligation.
In the end, I was surprised at how quickly my impression of the book changed... at 250 pages, I still felt it was quite good and I was planning out who I would recommend it to first... at 330 pages, I found myself turning pages with a scowl on my face. Even so, I still tore through the pages. I can't give this book a horrible rating because it simply wasn't horrible. But it was a bit too simplistic to have left any lasting impression.
On the plus side (there are plus sides!), the book was very easy to read, fun (most of the time), and informative. The information and facts on the political landscape through the decades, while sometimes forced and awkward, were also interesting and placed the reader fairly quickly into that decade's mindset. I was also impressed with the author's ability to write from the perspective of the girls in each decade relatively convincingly... Her portrayal of teens in the 70s was equally convincing as her portrayal of young ladies in their mid 20s in the 80s.
Overall, an average rating for an average book.
NOTE: This review is based on an ARC.
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LibraryThing member honeydew69862004
Firefly Lane is about two girls who become best friends for over 30 years. Tully always has to be the center of attention and Kate is the family oriented one. The begining of the book really reminded me of my childhood and my friend Sassha and me. I really like this book it had me bawling for the
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LibraryThing member hellonicole
The story of Tully and Kate, their differences, and their friendship is not a new idea by any means. It feels predictable, cliche.
At the same time it feels as though the author is desperate to remind you exact where in time this is with constant references to music and clothing styles. The
This is more of a quick, easy read than a novel that you settle down with and really get into. That said, it is an easy read and probably suitable for those times when you just don't want to have to think too much about what you are reading.
At the same time it feels as though the author is desperate to remind you exact where in time this is with constant references to music and clothing styles. The
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unnecessarily inclusion of these little reminders distracts from the characters and the story itself. I don't need to know that they wore a pink shiny tube top with purple bell bottoms and white boots. Tell me more about the characters and less about their clothing.This is more of a quick, easy read than a novel that you settle down with and really get into. That said, it is an easy read and probably suitable for those times when you just don't want to have to think too much about what you are reading.
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LibraryThing member bakersfieldbarbara
I loved this book. It was well written and held my attention throughout. I usually can second guess the author, but this time, I was held to the very end as to what might happen. Set in the 70's and 80's a reader can get an idea of what it was like back then, and how journalism and life choices
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affected the characters in the novel. All of us have choices and this book shows how choices,, right or wrong, must be lived and dealt with. I found my self thinking how the plot would go, and then it wouldn't go that way, and I read on, and found myself always second guessing the author. She stayed true to the end, and didn't deviate from a wonderful but very sad ending. The characters had a 30 year friendship, considered themsevles sisters, and yet went through the normal friendship emotions: jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment, and then finally sorrow at their losses. One act of betrayal separates them for a long time, and when they do get back together, it is a bittersweet meeting. Show Less
LibraryThing member jgallo123
I’m not crying, you are
LibraryThing member callmejacx
Kristin Hannah did a stupendous job on this book. Page one drew me in. Every page after drew me in further. I felt like I knew every character in the book, especially Kate and Tully. This story has it all. All that life throws your way. It's about choices, about acceptance, about trust, about
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friendship, love, and life. It's a story I will never forget. It gets 5 stars Show Less
LibraryThing member lnewlun
Firefly Lane captured me! I loved the story, I loved the format, I loved the style, but mainly I loved the characters. I believe that some of my connection with Kate, Tully, Mrs. M, and sometimes even Marah is because the story is set in my time period. The songs, fads, and news used in the book
The story-line chronicles the lives of two unlikely friends. Their love for each other overpowers their shortcomings I see a strong message about the importance of saying, "I'm Sorry".
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were details that were a vital part of my life. A second reason is that I have been each one of these women at some point in my life, I have faced the same barriers and enjoyed the same challenges.The story-line chronicles the lives of two unlikely friends. Their love for each other overpowers their shortcomings I see a strong message about the importance of saying, "I'm Sorry".
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LibraryThing member wcath
Firefly Lane is the story of a friendship. Tallulah "Tully" Hart and Kate Mularkey meet when Tully's mom moves them into a house across the road from the Mularkey's farm. Tully has already been through a traumatic series of events in her relatively young life, events that Kate could not even
I began this book having read two other books by Kristin Hannah and still not sure that Firefly Lane would be "my kind of book". I had this idea that Hannah's writing tended to be more of the romance type and even though some of that comes through at times, I really liked this book. One reason is that I related to the decades in which Kate and Tully grew and matured. I also went to high school in the 70's, college in the 80's, etc. So the cultural and pop references reverberated well for me. Another reason, and perhaps the more important one, is that the story of these two girls becoming women really caught and kept my attention and my heart. I really began to care about what happened to them. A good story does that to you. As I neared the 3/4 mark I was pretty sure of what was going to happen but I still wanted to continue reading. I do wish that there had been a little less of that formulaity in the book, but we all need a good cry every once in a while. Be sure to have some Kleenex on hand for the ending. It's a good cleansing cry, though.
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imagine, so they are truly an unlikely pairing. It is yet another traumatic event that really seals the beginnings of their friendship, a friendship that lasts through all the decades that serve as the timeline of this touching story.I began this book having read two other books by Kristin Hannah and still not sure that Firefly Lane would be "my kind of book". I had this idea that Hannah's writing tended to be more of the romance type and even though some of that comes through at times, I really liked this book. One reason is that I related to the decades in which Kate and Tully grew and matured. I also went to high school in the 70's, college in the 80's, etc. So the cultural and pop references reverberated well for me. Another reason, and perhaps the more important one, is that the story of these two girls becoming women really caught and kept my attention and my heart. I really began to care about what happened to them. A good story does that to you. As I neared the 3/4 mark I was pretty sure of what was going to happen but I still wanted to continue reading. I do wish that there had been a little less of that formulaity in the book, but we all need a good cry every once in a while. Be sure to have some Kleenex on hand for the ending. It's a good cleansing cry, though.
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LibraryThing member indygo88
I had originally expected to be somewhat disappointed in this, because I remember seeing some negative reviews when it first became available as an early reviewer book. But it's one of those books that has a cover that draws you in. And so I was drawn in -- not just by the cover but by the
And so overall I enjoyed it. It wasn't particularly deep & parts were fairly predictable, but it was a good story. And sometimes you need those.
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storyline premise: two best friends & their relationship spanning several decades. How can it not be a feel-good book? And so overall I enjoyed it. It wasn't particularly deep & parts were fairly predictable, but it was a good story. And sometimes you need those.
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LibraryThing member klarsenmd
This is the touching story of two women, Kate and Tully, who are as dissimilar as night and day, yet manage to become and stay emotionally bonded to one another. The story follows their friendship through their teen years in the seventies, college nad adulthood. As with any progfound friendship,
While I found this book to be extremely cliche' and the characters difficult to like at times, it was emotionally charged and tugged at the heart strings like any overly sappy sotry does. The message is one of constant struggle to forgive those you love, despite your differences and is worth hearing, however long and drwn out it might be.
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Kate and Tully experience life's ups and downs together.While I found this book to be extremely cliche' and the characters difficult to like at times, it was emotionally charged and tugged at the heart strings like any overly sappy sotry does. The message is one of constant struggle to forgive those you love, despite your differences and is worth hearing, however long and drwn out it might be.
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LibraryThing member smallwonder56
"Firefly Lane" would make a good beach/vacation read. It's well written and the plot is enough to keep you moving along. I enjoyed the friendship between the two girls and the incidents in their lives that contributed to those friendships. It reminded me a lot of friendships I had when I was young.
The problem I had with the novel was that I felt that it never went much below the surface. (That could be colored by my view of the popular girls in high school--all surface, no substance.) Yes, Tully had a hard life, yes, her friend and her friend's family were there to help her. I just didn't see much depth in the characters, that they responded to things in any way that wasn't pretty predictable.
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The problem I had with the novel was that I felt that it never went much below the surface. (That could be colored by my view of the popular girls in high school--all surface, no substance.) Yes, Tully had a hard life, yes, her friend and her friend's family were there to help her. I just didn't see much depth in the characters, that they responded to things in any way that wasn't pretty predictable.
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LibraryThing member crustycruz
If you are looking for a good cry read this book. It's a great story about friendship and relationships being built and tested over a lifetime. Very quick read.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008-02-05
Physical description
528 p.; 8.16 inches
ISBN
0312537077 / 9780312537074