Firefly Lane is Even More Tragic Considering the True Story It's Based On
Its ending was informed by an actual tragedy from the author's life.
Firefly Lane is a story of lifelong friends, Tully Hart (Katherine Heigl) and Kate Mularkey (Sarah Chalke), who have gone through thick and thin from their teenage years to mid-life.
As any fan already knows, Firefly Lane ends in a tragedy — while Tully and Kate manage to reconcile after an earlier quarrel, the latter learns that she has cancer and dies.
Netflix's show is based on Kristin Hannah's book of same name, published in 2008 — and, according to many readers, it is in fact quite faithful to the source. In both the novel and the show, the finale involves a book, also titled Firefly Lane, which is written by Kate and records the story of her life and friendship with Tully.
This book-within-a-book device by itself raises the question — is the plot of Firefly Lane actually rooted in a true story?
And the answer is yes, partially. Kristin Hannah wrote her novel using the events of her own life as inspiration and raw material. Parts of the plot are strongly informed by the author's personal experiences, though not to the extent where we might consider the book autobiographical. In particular, the main character duo is not directly based on anyone, but they are said to reflect some aspects of the author's personality and life journey, as well as other people's.
Sadly, the story's tragic finale is also based on Kristin Hannah's own experiences. The writer's mother died from breast cancer — the same type of cancer that killed Kate — when Kristin was only 26 years old. Hannah used Kate Mularkey's character and storyline as a way to commemorate her late mother and also attempt to understand what sort of person she was during her lifetime. To some extent, Kate is based on the author's own personality, but she says she definitely isn't Tully.
'No, I wish I were Tully. That would be more fun. I am also Kate,' Hannah said in an interview with Netflix.
In this light, the whole story of Kate dying and Tully trying to get over her friend's death and preserving her last gift — the book about their friendship — appears all the more tragic. But art is there to cure, and hopefully, Firefly Lane has helped its author overcome her loss.
Source: Netflix.