Firefly Lane (Firefly Lane, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Aug 07, 2009 Kaley rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009

I read this book on a recommendation from a friend. I got it from my library (and I had to wait awhile for it, as there was a long waiting list ahead of me for it). I read it in four days, over the course of a series of flights across country and back. It was a great travel read; I was so engrossed in the story that the long hours seemed to pass surprisingly quickly.
I thought it was a wonderful story of friendship, that often made me
ache for my own best friend whom I do not see nearly often enou I read this book on a recommendation from a friend. I got it from my library (and I had to wait awhile for it, as there was a long waiting list ahead of me for it). I read it in four days, over the course of a series of flights across country and back. It was a great travel read; I was so engrossed in the story that the long hours seemed to pass surprisingly quickly.
I thought it was a wonderful story of friendship, that often made me
ache for my own best friend whom I do not see nearly often enough. However, there were times when I felt like the two main characters were a bit flat and one-dimensional. While the author does a wonderful job of writing about the friendship, there were times when I felt like I didn't REALLY know either one of these women.
I loved the references to eras gone by, from the hippie seventies, to the glittery eighties, and through the nineties and into today. There were so many trendy styles and fads that the girls took up, and I was reminded of my own silly obsessions with things like banana clips and leggings... Lol. I also enjoyed the references to the political and social issues of the times. While they weren't overstated, I thought the author did a wonderful job of using them to show how they helped to shape the women's lives.
Overall, this was a great tale of friendship and of the struggles women go through to get it all right, so to speak. While both Tully and Kate had the lives they wanted, they both struggled at times to feel complete; they each wondered if they had made the right decisions, and whether they had missed out on something as a result of what they had chosen.
It was also particularly poignant as a mother-daughter tale, and illustrated beautifully the struggles involved in that relationship. I would recommend this book for women who grew up during these decades, for mothers-and-daughters (adult ones), or for anyone who enjoys a great story. I would not have picked out this book on my own, as it's not usually the type of thing that I read (it's kind of light, borderline chick-lit, although far from light in the end). However, I did really enjoy it, and it was a nice, easy break for me while I was on vacation. ...more

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