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Chick lit is not my thing. If I feel the need to clear my head after reading a deeper book, I'll pick up a mystery, or maybe a middle grades kids book. Yet I had seen two friends, Elyse and Stephanie, write poignant reviews about Firefly Lane, so I let my curiosity get the better of me, and picked it up.

Firefly Lane is about the 30 year friendship of Kate Mularkey Ryan and Tully Hart. These two girls were brought together at age 14 when they were so vulnerable and needed a friend to help them through the turbulent teen years. The book follows their life journey and included myriad references to the pop culture, news events, and music of the times. Even though the book is nearly 500 pages long, it read quickly because I allowed myself to get emotionally involved in the characters, so of course I could not put the book down.
Kate Mularkey is the serious one. Coming from a stable family, her one desire is to find true love. Tully Hart had been abandoned by her drug addict mother too many times to recall and eventually moved in with the Mularkey family. The last thing she knew about was love, and her only desire was to be a news woman at a time when women were finally beginning to break the glass ceiling. Being the novel that it is, Tully shatters that glass ceiling forgoing family life for stardom while Kate marries Johnny her former boss and settles into not so blissful life as an at-home mom. Yet through thick and thin, the women remained best friends.
What I liked about this book was the musical references, the strength of love between Kate and Johnny, and the layers to Tully's character. I also liked being reminded of a simpler time before computers and Internet and social media where kids could stay out late and parents did not need to worry much about where their kids were. After reading this, I realize why I do not read much chick lit: my life like Kate's is that of a busy at-home mom and I don't have the time to get too emotionally involved in the books that I read. As poignant as this story is, I am happier with my mysteries and detective novels.

I noticed that Kristin Hannah wrote a sequel that I am interested in reading as well as The Nightingale which brought her many accolades. I recommend this to those looking for a read about friendship, and perhaps those people who enjoy the chick lit genre more than I do will enjoy it even more than I did.

2.75-3 stars. Book served its purpose as a filler.