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Firefly Lane
Cover of Firefly Lane
Firefly Lane
A Novel

From the New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . . now a #1 Netflix series!

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.

From the New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . . now a #1 Netflix series!

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.

Available formats-
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB eBook
Subjects-
Languages:-
Copies-
  • Available:
    0
  • Library copies:
    0
Levels-
  • ATOS:
    5.0
  • Lexile:
    730
  • Interest Level:
    UG
  • Text Difficulty:
    3 - 4


 
Awards-
Excerpts-
  • Copyright © 2008 by Kristin Hannah. All rights reserved.

    Chapter 1


    They used to be called the Firefly Lane girls. That was a long time ago—more than three decades—but just now, as she lay in bed listening to a winter storm raging outside, it seemed like yesterday.


    In the past week (unquestionably the worst seven days of her life), she'd lost the ability to distance herself from the memories. Too often lately in her dreams it was 1974; she was a teenager again, coming of age in the shadow of a lost war, riding her bike beside her best friend in a darkness so complete it was like being invisible. The place was relevant only as a reference point, but she remembered it in vivid detail: a meandering ribbon of asphalt bordered on either side by gullies of murky water and hillsides of shaggy grass. Before they met, that road seemed to go nowhere at all; it was just a country lane named after an insect no one had ever seen in this rugged blue and green corner of the world.


    Then they saw it through each other's eyes. When they stood together on the rise of the hill, instead of towering trees and muddy potholes and distant snowy mountains, they saw all the places they would someday go. At night, they sneaked out of their neighboring houses and met on that road. On the banks of the Pilchuck River they smoked stolen cigarettes, cried to the lyrics of "Billy, Don't Be a Hero," and told each other everything, stitching their lives together until by summer's end no one knew where one girl ended and the other began. They became to everyone who knew them simply TullyandKate, and for more than thirty years that friendship was the bulkhead of their lives: strong, durable, solid. The music might have changed with the decades, but the promises made on Firefly Lane remained.


    Best friends forever.


    They'd believed it would last, that vow, that someday they'd be old women, sitting in their rocking chairs on a creaking deck, talking about the times of their lives, and laughing.


    Now she knew better, of course. For more than a year she'd been telling herself it was okay, that she could go on without a best friend. Sometimes she even believed it.


    Then she would hear the music. Their music. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." "Material Girl." "Bohemian Rhapsody." "Purple Rain." Yesterday, while she'd been shopping, a bad Muzak version of "You've Got a Friend" had made her cry, right there next to the radishes.


    She eased the covers back and got out of bed, being careful not to waken the man sleeping beside her. For a moment she stood there, staring down at him in the shadowy darkness. Even in sleep, he wore a troubled expression.


    She took the phone off its hook and left the bedroom, walking down the quiet hallway toward the deck. There, she stared out at the storm and gathered her courage. As she punched in the familiar numbers, she wondered what she would say to her once-best friend after all these silent months, how she would start. I've had a bad week . . . my life is falling apart . . . or simply: I need you.


    Across the black and turbulent Sound, the phone rang.

About the Author-
  • KRISTIN HANNAH is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and The Four Winds. A former lawyer turned writer, she lives with her husband in the Pacific Northwest.
Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    October 22, 2007
    Hannah (On Mystic Lake) goes a little too far into Lifetime movie territory in her latest, an epic exploration of the complicated terrain between best friends—one who chooses marriage and motherhood while the other opts for career and celebrity. The adventures of poor, ambitious Tully Hart and middle-class romantic Kate Mularkey begin in the 1970s, but don’t really get moving until about halfway into the book, when Tully, who claws her way to the heights of broadcast journalism, discovers it’s lonely at the top, and Katie, a stay-at-home Seattle housewife, forgets what it’s like to be a rebellious teen. What holds the overlong narrative together is the appealing nature of Tully and Katie’s devotion to one another even as they are repeatedly tested by jealousy and ambition. Katie’s husband, Johnny, is smitten with Tully, and Tully, who is abandoned by her own booze-and-drug-addled mother, relishes the adoration from Katie’s daughter, Marah. Hannah takes the easy way out with an over-the-top tear-jerker ending, though her upbeat message of the power of friendship and family will, for some readers, trump even the most contrived plot twists.

  • Library Journal

    December 15, 2007
    When Kate first sees Tully as she's waiting for the bus to take her to her first day at a new school, Kate thinks Tully's the coolest girl in the world. Kate is a shy, insecure rule follower, and Tully helps her to come out of her shell and take chances. Both girls need a best friend, and the bond they form is strong enough to last a lifetime. Hannah's ("On Mystic Lake") 16th novel explores a friendship that spans three decades and the different paths Kate and Tully take. Tully's ambition to be a journalist brings her all the way to network anchor and beyond, while Kate finds love with a man who first had been smitten with Tully. The women have their problems over the years, stemming from Kate's insecurities and Tully's willingness to sacrifice anything for her career, but in the end their friendship endures when it matters. Hannah captures the feeling of the 1970s and 1980s, exploring some serious issues as well. A tearjerker that is sure to please the author's many fans; recommended for popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 10/15/07.]Karen Core, Detroit P.L.

    Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

  • School Library Journal

    April 1, 2008
    Adult/High School-Tully Hart, vulnerable and abandoned by her mother, meets Katie Mularkey in 1974, when they are both in eighth grade. Katie, feeling unpopular and underappreciated, is drawn to dramatic, bold, and beautiful Tully, while Tully is attracted to the loving and stable Mularkey family. After spending many wild and fun times together and sharing their deepest thoughts with one another, they pledge best friends forever. Readers will follow the friendship for 30 years and will identify with the intense loyalty and unconditional love that Tully, a successful television personality, and Katie, a stay-at-home mom, have for one another. This changes when Tully betrays and humiliates Katie in a way she cannot forgive. Until their reconciliation, they are both bereft and feel the loss of their friendship sorely. Though Tullys character is somewhat shallow and stereotypical, her larger-than-life personality is compelling, and the story flows well. At times melodramatic, this novel about the friendship of the two very different women and its themes of betrayal and reconciliation will keep readers turning the pages. You might want to recommend a box of tissues to go along with this tear-jerking, yet hopeful book."Jane Ritter, Mill Valley School District, CA"

    Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

  • Booklist

    December 15, 2007
    Hannah limns the depths of female friendship in her new novel, which follows a girlhood bond that matures into an adult one. Tully Hart and Kate Mularkey come from different backgrounds: vivacious Tully has been abandoned by her hippie mother while studious Kate comes from a stable and loving family. After a devastating incident at a party, 14-year-old Tully finds herself confiding in Kate, thus beginning their unlikely friendship. Through dogged determination, ambitious Tully, who longs to be an anchorwoman, manages to secure them both jobs at a small television station after college; but while Tully pursues her dream of being a reporter, Kate falls for their handsome boss. The womens friendship remains strong as Tully fights her way to the top of the journalistic ladder and Kate finds a new purpose in motherhood, until a betrayal and a tragedy threaten their long-standing bond. Covering the 1970s to the new millennium, Hannahs latest is a moving and realistic portrait of a complex and enduring friendship.Expect female readers to flock to this absorbing novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

  • Booklist

    "Hannah's latest is a moving and realistic portrait of a complex and enduring friendship."

  • Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean "Not since Iris Dart's Beaches, twenty years ago, has there been a story of friendship that endures everything, from girlhood dramas to bitter betrayal, to be the touchstone in two women's lives. In Firefly Lane, Kristin Hannah creates the most poignant of reunions and an unforgettable story of loyalty and love"
  • Library Journal "A tearjerker that is sure to please the author's many fans."
  • Elin Hilderbrand, author of Barefoot "With perfect pitch, Kristin Hannah describes the tumult and energy of the 70s and 80s, and on a deeper level takes readers into the heart of a friendship between two women. Firefly Lane is masterful at the grand sweep and the fine detail."
  • The Seattle Times "This terrific buddy saga about two best girlfriends who survive all sorts of escapades and catastrophes will inevitably provoke comparisons with Iris Dart's 'Beaches,' but the story is all Hannah's own."
  • Susan Elizabeth Phillips, author of Natural Born Charmer

    "No one writes more insightfully about women's friendships with all of their messy wonder, humor, pain and complexity like Kristin Hannah. She's a marvel."
Title Information+
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    St. Martin's Publishing Group
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A Novel
Kristin Hannah
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