The Last Thing I Needed, At This Point In My Life, Is Another "Beaches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                    I loved Kristin Hannah's novel, "The Nightingale," so, when I came across her novel, "Firefly Lane," detailing the friendship from school on up, of two women, I thought of my friend, Doug, and our school years, and thought the novel would be an interesting character exploration.

                                     It is, and it also reads quickly.  Tully (for Tallulah) and Katie are opposites; Tully is raised by a loving grandmother, but never stops seeking approval from a drug addicted whore of a mother who abandoned her.  Outgoing and popular, she and Katie become unlikely, but genuine friends.  Tully envisions a dream life for them, with both of them as TV journalists.  Katie is from a more traditional, loving and stable family, and, while she goes along with Tully's dream, somewhere along the adolescent line, she breaks off, and wants a more traditional life for herself.

                                     Over the next decades, the friendship goes up and down, as Tully achieves meteoric media success, while Katie achieves martial stability, but constantly wonders why she can't have something more.

                                        Then along comes inflammatory breast cancer.  Katie is afflicted, and from there we have, basically, "Beaches."  The story is not objectionable, it is detailed beautifully and with strong poignancy.  I did not see illness coming down the  road, and, having recently lost my father, I was not ready for this.  Yet somehow, I managed to finish the book.

                                          In the acknowledgements, I found out why the illness was written in--the author's own mother died of this type of cancer, and she wisely wanted to get the message out to all women, because this is a tricky form of breast cancer.  I was sorry to hear of Hannah's mother, but I am glad she got the message out.

                                           And the message is contained within a highly readable novel, most of which I have revealed to you.  I was disappointed that the big reveal of what happened between Tully's grandmother and her daughter, Dorothy (Tully's mom) was never made.  And, as I said, I did not see tragedy coming.

                                           If you have recently lost a love one, stay away from this one.  But if you want a genuinely satisfying read, this delivers.

                                             I just loved Tully and Katie, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!