A mess of snot and tears by the end. That was the state I was in when I finished Firefly Lane. It’s also incredibly wonderful that I finished the last 1/4 of this one in paper! There would be no way I wouldn’t have caused a serious accident had I finished this in audio, especially those last 40-50 pages. What a remarkable saga on a 30+ year friendship between two women, spanning adolescence to adulthood!
Although I felt the narration by Susan Ericksen sometimes veered toward the overly dramatic, I was completely hooked on listening to it every chance I had. Yes, there were also many cheesy and clichéd moments, but those too were easy to cast aside the more involved I became in Tully and Kate’s life.
Sunday was International Women’s Day and I saw this posted just as I had finished reading Firefly Lane:
I cannot think of a better book to recommend about womanhood. Kate and Tully’s journey from adolescence to adulthood is so 100% about womanhood – from their youth to their college years to the decisions about high-profile careers or choosing motherhood, honestly, it covers everything in-between and all about womanhood. Tremendously. So yeah, my recommendation? Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.
It is very Forrest-Gump-like since we’re taken on this wonderful journey beginning in the 70s and ending in the mid-2000s with every political and pop culture moment spanning these 4 decades spun into Kate and Tully’s story. From the Vietnam War protests, to the Iraq war, 9-11 with plenty of mentions of Abba, Oprah, Deborah Norville and Diane Sawyer, etc. it was something I was completely delighted with. It was also excellent to read about this long-lasting friendship also spanning every emotional moment of their lives. The love and hate, the jealousy, the arguments. It’s quite a saga to read and to experience their years together, the work they put into maintaining their friendship with all its bumps and valleys and frustrating behaviour from each side (because there were many times when I was frustrated with them!).
Simply put – I loved it. This has apparently been turned into 10-episode Netflix mini-series. I can absolutely see that happening for this story and I look forward to watching it. (Although….on the fence about Katherine Heigl as Tully but can definitely see Sarah Chalke as Kate (when Kate and Tully are older of course).
Have you read Firefly Lane? The Nightingale? Firefly Lane left me in a bigger puddle of tears over the puddle I was in when I finished The Nightingale, but that would be because of its more relatable subject matter. I will definitely be following up soon with #2 Fly Away which continues the story, only five years later. Susan Ericksen narrates this one as well, and I think I will continue with the audio although the ratings for #2 are quite low. It looks as though the sequel does not live up to expectation. I will give it a try though….soon enough. Do you have any recommendations for other Kristin Hannah novels that I absolutely must read?
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