Fly Away

Fly Away by Kristin Hannah -416 pages

ARC from St. Martin’s Press

Book Blurb:

Once, a long time ago, I walked down a night-darkened road called Firefly Lane, all alone, on the worst night of my life, and I found a kindred spirit. That was our beginning. More than thirty years ago. TullyandKate. You and me against the world. Best friends forever. But stories end, don’t they? You lose the people you love and you have to find a way to go on. . . .

Tully Hart has always been larger than life, a woman fueled by big dreams and driven by memories of a painful past. She thinks she can overcome anything until her best friend, Kate Ryan, dies. Tully tries to fulfill her deathbed promise to Kate–to be there for Kate’s children–but Tully knows nothing about family or motherhood or taking care of people.

Sixteen-year-old Marah Ryan is devastated by her mother’s death. Her father, Johnny, strives to hold the family together, but even with his best efforts, Marah becomes unreachable in her grief. Nothing and no one seems to matter to her . . . until she falls in love with a young man who makes her smile again and leads her into his dangerous, shadowy world.

Dorothy Hart–the woman who once called herself Cloud–is at the center of Tully’s tragic past. She repeatedly abandoned her daughter, Tully, as a child, but now she comes back, drawn to her daughter’s side at a time when Tully is most alone. At long last, Dorothy must face her darkest fear: Only by revealing the ugly secrets of her past can she hope to become the mother her daughter needs.

A single, tragic choice and a middle-of-the-night phone call will bring these women together and set them on a poignant, powerful journey of redemption. Each has lost her way, and they will need each one another–and maybe a miracle–to transform their lives.

My Review: 4 stars

Seriously, this book was a doozy. After recently and suddenly losing “my Kate” in 2011, this book was either going to be entirely therapeutic or send me down the rabbit hole. The beginning of the book was probably the latter, but as it progressed, it definitely was more the former. Kristin Hannah gets women and their immense ties of friendship; thus she is deftly able to use her words to bring us into the lives of these characters we so loved in the prequel, Firefly Lane. The story is told in an odd way. It worked but was a little hard to follow at times.

Learning more about Tully’s mom was a great vehicle to bring in tough issues such as physical and sexual abuse. The importance of therapy for family and friends after losing a loved one was emphasized though I wish even more so. This book brought to light the importance as always of sharing your stories, forgive the people you love and the strength of family in whatever shape or form it comes in. Friends can be family, bottom line. Keep your tissues handy!

Quotes I liked:

That’s the thing about our best friend. She knows you. Inside and out, down to the studs as they say. Even worse, you see your own life through her eyes. It has always been true: Kate is the voice in my head. She’s my Jiminy Cricket.”

– “At first when we lost her, I didn’t think I could go on. I was sure somehow that my heart would simply stop beating or my lungs would stop filling up with air. People aren’t as helpful as you’d think, either. Oh, they’ll roll out the comfort mat when you’ve lost a spouse or a child or a parent, but a best friend is different. You’re supposed to get over that.”

– “I’m afraid”, she said. “Of course you are. You’re a mother. Fear is the job description.”