Firefly Lane
by Kristin Hannah
Normally, a book about two dear friends as they change and travel different paths through the decades would become my favorite book. I would get sucked into the plot, see myself and friends in the characters, and bawl my eyes out as the inevitable tragedy unfolds. To my great surprise, I hated Firefly Lane! Absolutely hated it – I actually called up a friend and vented for an hour about how much I hated it.
It would take far too long, and would spoil too much, to really explain everything I hated about this novel – but since I understand Netflix has picked up the rights to film it in a series, you can watch all the drama and horrible people on television. In a nutshell, I hated the message of the story. One of the friends repeatedly abuses the other, in horrible, horrible ways that are unforgivable. And yet, because these girls were friends when they were very little, the wronged woman is supposed to rise above and forgive her friend. I’ve always felt there’s a difference between forgiveness and self-respect. You can forgive someone so that hate and anger doesn’t control your life, and that the injury doesn’t continue longer than necessary. But welcoming that person back into your life so he or she can continue to do you harm doesn’t show you value the quality of your life.
Read at your own risk. It’s not as touching or endearing as it seems. I wish I’d never read it, but there’s nothing I can do about it – except forgive it, move on with my life, and never read it again.
It would take far too long, and would spoil too much, to really explain everything I hated about this novel – but since I understand Netflix has picked up the rights to film it in a series, you can watch all the drama and horrible people on television. In a nutshell, I hated the message of the story. One of the friends repeatedly abuses the other, in horrible, horrible ways that are unforgivable. And yet, because these girls were friends when they were very little, the wronged woman is supposed to rise above and forgive her friend. I’ve always felt there’s a difference between forgiveness and self-respect. You can forgive someone so that hate and anger doesn’t control your life, and that the injury doesn’t continue longer than necessary. But welcoming that person back into your life so he or she can continue to do you harm doesn’t show you value the quality of your life.
Read at your own risk. It’s not as touching or endearing as it seems. I wish I’d never read it, but there’s nothing I can do about it – except forgive it, move on with my life, and never read it again.