When starting this book, I became automatically grabbed into the story because Kristin Hannah writes in such a descriptive and interesting manner that the reader wants to continue reading. At first, I was a little hesitant to read this novel because it takes place in the summer of 1974. Due to the fact that the novel takes place in the 1970's, I predicted that it might be a difficult to understand the language in the novel since it was not taking place in modern day. Also, I thought that there might be references in the book to things occurring at this time that I would not be able to relate to it. However, I find that Hannah has written the novel in an enticing way that I am able to connect with it. Tully's problem of having her mom constantly abandoning her due to the fact that she is drug addicted and a hippie is one that many children today in foster care or an orphanage can relate to. Even though the hippie movement may be over, there are still plenty of mothers out there today who are either doing drugs or who are constantly drunk all of the time.
The main characters, Tully and her best friend Kate, have very different personalities. Their personalities are do different that the reader at the beginning of the novel would not even suspect that they would end up becoming friends. Tully is a girl who learned to grow up without her mom and dad. The only positive influence that Tully had in her life was her grandmother who had raised her after her mother had abandoned her for drugs. Tully's mother, Cloud, blames her own mother for a mistake that occurred a long time ago, but what that secret is has not been revealed yet. As Tully continues to get older, she continues to miss her mother and keeps memories from her childhood in her scrapbook in case her mother ever came back and wanted to see what she had missed with all those years of abandonment. However, at the age of 14, Tully stops asking her grandmother to get her a scrapbook and she eventually gives up hope that her mom will come back for her. Tully starts the typical teenage rebellious behavior and starts wearing clothes her grandmother doesn't really approve of. Tully eventually becomes the most popular girl at school, but she constantly feels alone and abandoned despite the fact she has all these friends. Tully's messed up and lonely life is nothing compared to the life that Kate has. Kate has a wonderful and supporting family, but she is constantly embarrassed by her mom's rules and feels alone because she has no friends. When Tully moves on to Firefly Lane with her mom and becomes neighbors of Kate, Kate automatically is jealous of the life she leads. However, would Kate really want to change places with Tully if she really knew what Tully went through??
The way that the Kristin had blended two opposite personalities was done well. It was very interesting for me to realize that two people who come from different lives could end up having one common feeling-lonely. I find it peculiar that Kate is not able to make the connection that her and Tully really did have something in common, and that she was not able to see that Tully's life was really not as good as it seems. Constantly throughout the book Tully would say to Kate that she is lucky to have a mom that is worried about you. Thus, it then shows the reader that Tully would trade the life of independence and popularity to just have a family and have someone that cares for her. It just goes to show you that popularity is not always everything and people all have complications in their lives that they need to deal with.
One particular passage that I found helpful in learning about the inner thoughts and traits of the characters was when Kristin wrote: "Bye. Tully stood there for a moment, feeling awkward. She wanted to hug Kate, maybe even cling to her and tell her how much this night had been helped by her, but she didn't dare. She'd learned a thing or two about vulnerability from her mother, and she felt too fragile now to risk humiliation." It becomes evident now that Tully is having a difficult time trusting a person and that just having someone taking the time to talk to her and truly listen to what is bothering her is all that Tully desires. As Tully had explained "On rare days she still felt...not quite lonely...but something. Adrift, maybe. As if the people she hung around with were placeholders. Today was one of those days. She sat in her regular seat on the school bus, hearing the buzz of gossip go on around her. Everyone seemed to be talking about family things; she had nothing to add to the conversations. She knew nothing about fighting with your little brother or being grounded for talking back to your parents or going to the mall with your mom. Thankfully, when the bus pulled up to her stop, she hurried off, making a big show of saying goodbye to her friends, laughing loudly and waving. Pretending; she did a lot of that lately." Hannah puts so much emotion into this passage that I am able to sympathize with Tully. While this feeling of abandonment is something that I can't fully understand, I am able to see the pretending and loneliness that she feels, and I think that many readers will be able to relate and connect to these emotions.
Overall, this book is off to a great start--stay tuned for more information on the friendship of Tully and Kate!!!
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