"Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, And say my glory was I had such friends." William Butler Yeats

A coming-of-age novel that explores a mediation on life, death, and lifelong friendship.
In the summer of 1986, Tully Dawson had dreams of freedom and life far removed from that of his father, Woodbine, an unemployed alcoholic miner. He had a charisma that instantly attracted people to him. The narrator, James, describes his friendship and admiration of Tully as his saving grace from his divorcing parents. They up and moved and left him alone to care for himself which is how he ended up spending most of time at Tully's house. He was a bookish sort without many friends except for the characters and authors in his books.

I found the story rather dragged for me and rather depressing. James looked up Tully and felt embraced by his family. He allowed himself to be experience the care-free life style that energized Tully. Their friendship would endure the toughest obstacles where James finds himself to be a support and motivation to Tully. It is an emotional story of family and friends, enduring commitment of friendships. I wished that I could've related more with the characters and their story.

The setting is Great Britain during the 1980's. Four young, Scottish lads are planning to attend a wild weekend in Manchester featuring several of their highly cherished punk bands. They are over-the-moon with excitement. Tully and Jimmy are the main characters with Tully being slightly the elder of the two. Jimmy spends a lot of time in Tully's home due to the fact that Jimmy's parents are patently inept for the job and desert him at the age of eighteen. They have a strong, brotherly bond.

The first half of the book focuses on the Manchester weekend and it was a challenge for me to read. The Scottish/English slang and vernacular is a foreign language to me, especially when mated with a teen language known only to them. Add in the vast amounts of various drugs and alcohol imbibed and I was out in left field. I know I missed much of their activity, conversation and meaning during that first half and had it carried over into the second half, I would not have read it.

However, the second half set thirty years later finds our characters as mature adults well marinated in life experience. Kudos to Andrew O'Hagan, the author, who's writing beautifully segued from frantic to mellow reflecting the passing of three decades. The underlying feeling of this portion of the book is a heart-rending poignancy throughout. Focusing mainly on Jimmy, his wife Iona, Tully, and his fiancé Anna, Tully is suddenly faced with the knowledge his life will be cut short. How these four characters who share such a close, unique friendship, handle this devastating crisis is achingly, beautifully written. The ending is sweet and made me ruefully smile.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest, voluntary review.

i loved the vibes of this book. it talked a lot about music,movies,books,london,sicily which are all of the things that i love so i enjoyed that aspect.also,it mentioned elvis.i mean, if that doesn’t make you want to read it, i don’t know what will.

The word friendship means so many different things to different people that those who have never had that deep, abiding feeling that this one person could have easily been your brother or sister may not understand the bond between James and Tully. The fact that 30 years later, Tully could reach out and James would give him unwavering support is enough to leave a small crack in your heart and a lump in your throat. Their actions come from their hearts. This was an emotional story meant to remind you of your youth and those friends you've remembered all this time.

In the summer of 1986, in a small Scottish town, James and Tully ignite a brilliant friendship based on music, films and the rebel spirit. With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them, they rush towards the climax of their youth: a magical weekend in Manchester, the epicentre of everything that inspires them in working-class Britain. There, against the greatest soundtrack ever recorded, a vow is made: to go at life differently. Thirty years on, half a life away, the phone rings. Tully has news.

"They say you know nothing at eighteen. But there are things you know at eighteen that you will never know again."

This book 🥹

The book starts in 1980’s Ayrshire, an area of Scotland just outside of Glasgow, where a group of teenage friends are planning to visit Manchester for a music festival. The second section, 30 years on, follows Tully and Jimmy as they receive some awful news. (TW below) The second section was by far my favourite part of the book, though I feel the beginning is vital to paint the picture of who these characters are/were and where their friendships began.

I really, really loved this one. The characters, especially Jimmy and Tully, felt so real to me. It’s full of Scottish terms and banter and slang and this was all so familiar, that to me, it felt almost comforting. I do wonder though if for those not Scottish whether a little of the poignancy of the story might end up lost in translation.

This is ultimately a story of friendship, those friendships you have your whole life, regardless of time or distance, the friends that you love, the ones that become your family. It broke my heart and I sobbed at the end. So looking forward to watching the TV adaptation now.

‘You were all young together. New to the world. Now help him leave. That will be the measure and the grace of your friendship.”

This was a beautiful book, well written, poignant, with so much feeling. I cried and i laughed. Words do it no justice. 100% recommend.

I read this book a while back, when we were still mostly indoors and facing grave illness had suddenly become more real and almost commonplace. O'Hagan's lyrical prose deftly captures a boundless, exuberant youth, the kind that inspires lofty goals and promises. When reality intervenes 30 years later, things are not quite as raucous. I am pretty sure that coming out on the other side of this pandemic helped to make the second half of this story seem that much more authentic and understandable. And yes, this is completely a boys' tale, but it was still well worth it.

This book was ok for me. I am not a big media buff so the references were hard to follow. The book was boring for me at times.

A startling and touching novel of male friendship, something we often do not get enough content about. This is a book that made me feel nostalgic and hopeful for the future. It made me call my best guy friend and reconnect.

MAYFLIES by Andrew O'Hagan was a tough read for me. I had a tough time getting through parts of it.
I have not read a book like this before so I commend the author on a new concept; perhaps it is just not for me. I Though the characterization is very good it took me too long to connect to the characters and to care about them.
The saving grace for me was the way assisted suicide was handled, discussed and presented to the reader. Kudos to Mr. O’Hagan for handling a sensitive subject with grace.
The first half of the book left me shaking my head wondering why I was reading this book. The second half redeemed the book for me.

This was a deeply moving novel that I think will resonate with a lot of people. It was a very meaningful meditation on life, death and friendship. I loved reading about James and Tully.

I love reading books about friendships that last a lifetime, but the slow drive of this book was hard for me to get through. I liked the nods to the 80's and the book had potential, but it just wasn't the book for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This book didn’t do it for me. Too many references to movies/culture I could not relate to and just couldn’t hold my interest.

I was granted eARC access to Mayflies via NetGalley in 2021 and I thought I had already reviewed it. Unfortunately at this point, the details have faded from memory, but I remember being unimpressed. This book utilizing a non-linear timeline that was hard to keep track of, and I simply didn't care about either main character at any point. It's one of those mundane, unfortunate luck, slice-of-life sort of literary fictions that some people read and feel profoundly touched and changed, and the rest of us push through to the end wondering what they were talking about and when the profoundness is going to happen. Given that it has a 4 average on Goodreads now, almost a year later, I'll concede that those of us wondering when it's going to get to the profound part are in the minority, but I think this book is going to prove polarizing. I don't predict many "liked it but didn't love it" reviews. I expect a bunch of raving 5s and 4.5s and about a third as many 1s and 2s. I'm rating this a 3 because I can't give it a 2.5 and (again, unfortunately) it's been too long to recall all the little details that might have swayed me up or down in rating.

4.25. This nostalgic story is a great read and perfect for anyone who is middle aged, especially male fans of the Sex Pistols and/or those who grew up in Scotland during the 1980s, as you will get many of the references. But for those who did not it still offers up solid writing that depicts youth in Thatcher's Britain and then midlife a couple of decades later. It's a tale that is really two tales of male friendship, love, and loss.

The first half of the book is a fun frolic as Jimmy and Tully set out for a Punk Rock Music Festival in Manchester. O’Hagan really captures that feeling one has in their youth when music is everything and the world is your oyster. The friends imbibe in all the excesses they can find.

Three decades later in Jim and Tully are reminiscing about old times as they grapple with life’s challenges. The best friends deal with emotional issues that are apparently based on the author’s real friendship. Relatable for anyone at this stage of life who can empathize with a serious condition. Heartwarming.

#NetGalley #AndrewOHagan #BestFriends #Mayflies

Mayflies is a book that absolutely deserves more attention. This book has so much heart and is so subtly powerful. This is a moving story about friendship and memory. I really enjoyed this one!

Wonderfully poignant exploration of friendship and human relationships. Will purchase a physical copy asap!

Andrew O'Hagan's Mayflies is a powerful and poignant look at friendship and how far we will go to help a friend.

James and Tully met in a small Scottish town in 1986. They are drawn to one another by their love of music and film, their difficult relationships with their fathers, and their devil-may-care attitude, although the 20-year-old Tully embodies that far more than James. But theirs is a fierce, loyal friendship.

“He had innate charisma, a brilliant record collection, complete fearlessness in political argument, and he knew how to love you more than anybody else. Other guys were funny and brilliant and better and this and that, but Tully loved you.”

Along with some friends, they make an epic trip to Manchester that summer to see one of their favorite bands, The Sex Pistols. On that trip they vow to always go at life differently.

In 2017, James learns that Tully is dying. As always, Tully wants to live—and leave—life on his own terms, so he asks James for help. Can a friendship be so strong you’d truly do anything for your friend?

Mayflies is a book in two parts, really—it’s ebullient and buzzing with energy at the start, and it’s moving and tremendously thought-provoking at the end. I’ll admit I struggled with the dialect in which the story was told, which put me at a bit of a disconnect, but this is still so moving. With one of my friends currently at the end of his life, I can only wonder how I’d react in the same situation as the book describes.

NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada provided me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Beautiful. This author is new to me but after reading this I will seek out his work. His ability to write from an adolescents’ POV as well as an adults’ is genuine and seamless and lovely. Great choice for a book club -‘lots to discuss about friendship and choices and the human existence. Heartfelt thanks to Faber and Faber for the book. Loved it.