I chose not to re-read Firefly Lane, in the interest of time, and there were a few times I was confused, since it’s been almost 3 years since my first reading. I feel it would be best to read that novel first before reading Fly Away.

While several events from Firefly Lane are revisited, there are other events that are alluded to without detail. Only Kate’s mom, Margie, is a voice of reason, and Kate herself is viewed as a saint, as the deceased often are. The characters all drown their sorrows in drugs and/or alcohol, and run away from each other instead of talking through their problems. Tully, Johnny and Mara are dealing with the loss of Kate, and Dorothy relives her own troubled childhood and the mistakes she made with Tully. The story also unfolds through Johnny’s, Mara’s and even Dorothy’s points of view, filling in the gaps that Tully doesn’t know. While Tully’s broken body lies in a hospital bed, her spirit hovers somewhere above, telling her version of the last 4 years’ events to Kate, who has come to Tully’s aide.

Johnny and Mara, the only family Tully has ever known, come to her bedside, along with Dorothy, Tully’s estranged mother who makes only brief appearances in Firefly Lane. Tully’s part in Johnny and Mara’s estrangement begins a downward spiral that culminates with driving her car into a concrete stanchion, which is where the novel begins.

Tully has committed career suicide by walking away from her extremely successful talk show during Kate’s cancer, making her unemployable. Her husband, Johnny, and daughter, Mara, have had a falling out, causing Mara to drop out of school and run away with a boy she met at a support group for grieving teens. If you have not read that book and plan to, prior to reading the sequel, Fly Away, then I suggest you stop reading now!įirefly Lane is probably one of Kristin Hannah’s best-known books, following the friendship – both the ups and downs – of “TullyandKate,” who meet as pre-teens and weather the storms of friendship, until Kate succumbs to breast cancer in her mid-40s.įly Away picks up 4 years after Kate’s death, and her family has fallen apart without her. Note: This review contains spoilers of Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.

Fly away kristin hannah summary