When I first started reading Kristin Hannah’s Firefly Lane, I was entirely unaware of the fact that there is a sequel to it titled Fly Away. I could be wrong, but to my knowledge, these two texts by Hannah very well could be the only two that are considered to be read in accordance with each other, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover, via Goodreads, that there is a second book.
Firefly Lane, like any other Kristin Hannah novel I’ve read, ruined me emotionally, but the pain was absolutely worth the story. It tells the tale of two women named Tully and Kate who become unlikely best friends when they’re young girls, and it follows them as they navigate their way through life’s major milestones, like university, careers, relationships, and kids, etc.
SPOLIERS AHEAD.
At the conclusion of Firefly Lane, Kate succumbs to her battle with an aggressive form of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer. She leaves behind her husband, Johnny; her daughter, Mara; her twin boys, William and Lucas; and, of course, her best friend, Tully. Naturally, the family is grieving heavily, and none of them is entirely sure as to how to continue going about life in Kate’s noted absence.
Firefly Lane begins relatively soon after Kate’s passing and details how the family and Tully are managing her loss, which, understandably, isn’t well. Tully ends up hitting rock bottom, so to speak, in her efforts to process Kate’s absence and her friendship with her, as does Mara, Kate’s teenage daughter. Johnny is hardly getting by as a single parent, and he is beside himself trying to determine how best to help his daughter and his deceased wife’s best friend.
Fly Away is equally emotional and raw as Firefly Lane, and if you’ve read the former, I highly recommend reading the latter. Fly Away is definitely a read and not a rid.
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash
ontheedgeofeverything 