Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Genre: Fiction

It’s been a long time since I read a Kristin Hannah book and this one reminded me how much I missed her books. I really need to pull them out of my TBR and catch up. I listened to the audio version of this one and what an outstanding book!

This is the story of two women who become best friends in their teen years. Kate was the quiet one who never quite fit it. Tully was the outgoing one…the cool girl that Kate wanted to be. However, Tully had anything but a happy life. Her mother abandoned her, leaving her grandmother to raise Tully. Once Tully’s grandmother passed away, Kate’s family drew Tully right into their home and she quickly became one of the family.

We live through Tully and Kate’s life as best friends through the 1970’s, which brought back some wonderful memories of my own. When Hannah writes about the music of that time period, I can hear the radio in my mind and remember back to those days. It was like reliving my own teen years.

Tully becomes a popular television personality, while Kate is a “stay at home” mom and raises her family. Like all relationships, Tully and Kate’s has its ups and downs. Things really take an awkward turn when Kate’s daughter is mesmerized by Tully’s lifestyle and has major clashes with Kate. Unfortunately, Tully is in the middle, often going against Kate’s wishes. After one major falling-out, it looks like Tully and Kate’s relationship might come to a vicious end and things might never be the same again.

This is an emotional read…talk about tugging at the heartstrings. This book does that and so much more. I listened to this in the car on my way to work and I had to control my tears from flowing – otherwise everyone at work would have been worried about my red eyes  Talk about realistic characters, this book has them. A realistic storyline? Yep, it’s definitely there.

I have to give this book the Socrates’ Great Book Alert medal. It also completes my Audio Book Challenge for 2009!