Fiction Addict

Genre: Drama

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: January 6, 2009

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Tullyandkate. They’re the main characters of Firefly Lane. Actually, it’s Tully and Kate, but they’re really two opposite peas in the same pod. This is their story.

Growing up in the seventies, living through the mad crazy hair and wild colors of the eighties, into the nineties and through to the turn of the century, we follow these two girls through heartache, rejection, high school, college, careers, marriage and kids. In one word, life.

From the first moment that I started reading Firefly Lane, I was absolutely hooked.  A little younger than the girls in the book, I grew up in the 70’s and the 80’s and 90’s were my decades. (Yes, I claim both of them for various reasons.) Even now, like one of the characters in the book, I’m a mom of three kids. In other words, I relate.

I think that’s what was amazing about this book. It wasn’t an over the top soap opera drama. It wasn’t science fiction or a bodice ripper. It was real. Honest. Open. A woman who hasn’t had a hair cut or color in a long time because she’s too busy being a mom. Or a girl who can only see that her mom won’t let her do anything and misses the love that’s behind the protection.  And then there’s the girl who refuses to let other people define her while at the same time struggling for acceptance.

This book was stunning in its simplicity. It’s an easy read. I got it in the mail on Thursday and despite the heft of its 500+ pages, I had finished it before Saturday evening. That includes the three kids and the job.  This would make you think that the whole thing is light hearted and easy going, but it’s not. Though she mixes humor and romance in, Hannah does not skim over the hard topics. She explores not knowing when or how to say you’re sorry. Or saying you’re sorry too often. And then there’s unrequited love.  The pain of rejection.  Misunderstanding. Feeling like you’re not as good as you could be. Hannah hits it all and does it with such brilliance that by the end of the book you’re sobbing and wondering where Tully is now.  Is she alright? Did she find what she was looking for? Is Marah okay….?

And then you remember. It was fiction. They aren’t real. They may be based on real people, but they’re still fiction. It was a book. Something that you read and put on the shelf. Not someone that you call when you need a hug.

But this was so much more than ‘just a book.’ This was a wonderful exploration of everything in life that matters. At the end, it felt like I’d made a new friend. When my journey with Firefly Lane was over and I closed the cover, I popped in “Dancing Queen” and danced with my kids. Thank you, Kristin Hannah, for making it so much more than it would have been before I read the book.