Firefly Lane: A Story of True Friendship
Literature is so broad and beautiful. It’s a parallel world, like any other type of art. It often comes very close to reality and makes us feel the very heartbeat of the author. This is the case with writer Kristin Hannah, author of the beautiful book Firefly Lane.
This book is about two teenage girls who feel lonely and think that the other girl has a perfect life. They realize this isn’t true and get to know each other. In the book, something bad happens and one of the characters makes a mind-blowing confession in a vulnerable moment.
During this vulnerable moment, Tully can’t take it anymore and feels the need to stop protecting herself. She feels she needs to trust somebody or otherwise she’ll fall apart. Kate is there waiting for her and will always be (in the last years of high school, in college, and beyond) so that Tully doesn’t break down.
To make real friends, you have to put yourself out there. Sometimes people will let you down. Girls can be really mean to each other, but you can’t let that stop you. If you get hurt, just pick yourself up, dust off your feelings, and try again.
Firefly Lane: The story of two friends
This story is about how the fear of rejection is eventually replaced by the curiosity of discovering new things and coming out of your shell. It’s about challenging what you know and wanting to find love like the one you see in movies. Beyond the experience itself, it’s what we do with it that matters.
Kate has a loving but strict family. Tully is a star. Since she’s been abandoned by her mother so many times that she’s had to learn to shine by her own means. In these two girls, we see a common desire that no teenager ever admits to. They both want to make their parents proud. Kate believes that Tully has it all and Tully believes that Kate has it all.
Thoughts and fears are formless things until you shape them with your voice. And once you give them a voice, they can crush you.
Two different worlds
Their friendship is born when they realize that one is good at telling stories and the other is good at listening. Tully soon realizes what she wants to be in life and how to achieve it, while Kate takes a little longer to do so. Meanwhile, she follows Tully and lifts her up when she’s down and whenever her past threatens to cause her pain.
Each one of the girls will try to overcome obstacles. Tully does this by being a TV star. Kate is loving, giving, and understands that there are people who have been hurt so badly that they’re unable to ask for forgiveness.
Tully is so incredibly strong that she’s able to capture everyone’s attention. Kate is so incredibly brave that she’s able to protect them all. One way or another, Kate is the air that Tully breathes and Tully is the air that Kate breathes. Living in their two different worlds allows them to help each other survive.
Love and friendship
Firefly Lane isn’t a realistic novel and Kristin Hannah didn’t intend to make it that way. It doesn’t want to be a mirror of reality and she knows that most friendships don’t work like that. However, it’s a beautiful dream, a beautiful narration of how things could be if we knew what to do to find true friendships.
Maybe one of the most beautiful elements of this book is its capability of giving a voice to what a mother or a daughter might feel in those moments where one of them becomes aware of the dangers that threaten the other while the other completely ignores it all as she gets closer to the fire.
Firefly Lane describes with amazing precision the ambivalence of the fact that our security lies in the same place we try to desperately get away from: our family.
We’re not going to delve deeper into Firefly Lane because we don’t want to spoil it for those who would love to get lost in its pages. Although it wouldn’t really matter, even if we described it completely. The most valuable thing about this book is how it narrates the story of friendship.
About the author of Firefly Lane
What we surely must acknowledge about Kristin Hannah is her ability to build two characters and make them evolve in front of our eyes. This is something we’re able to see with Kate, who learns to be the best mom she can be. Kristin Hannah guides us through Kate’s daughter’s actions that hurt her the most and that comfort, upset, or excite her.
There are many reasons why Firefly Lane is an amazing book. We invite you to discover it for yourself.
Editor’s note: Firefly Lane is not just a book for teenagers, it’s a book for everyone. Adolescence is only the starting point of the passionate path the characters walk together.