From the back of the audio case: The Grey sisters had only each other when their mother died years ago. Their father provided for them physically on Water’s Edge, the ranch that had been in their family for three generations; each of them, however, longed for their father’s love.
Winona, the oldest, knew early on that she could never get it. An over-weight dreamer and reader, she didn’t exhibit the kinds of talents and strengths her father valued.
Vivi Anne, the youngest, had those things. And it was Vivi Anne who only ever saw a glimmer of their father’s approval.
When Vivi Anne makes a fateful decision to follow her heart, rather than take the route of a dutiful daughter, events are set in motion that will test the love and loyalties of the Grey sisters.
With breathtaking pace and penetrating insight, Kristin Hannah’s True Colors is a novel about sisters, vengeance, rivalry, betrayal – and ultimately what it truly means to be a family.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this story. Maybe because I have two sisters myself or maybe just because of the insightful writing of Kristin Hannah, but I felt I could really connect with these characters.
The Grey sisters are characters we can all relate to. Winona is the oldest sister and one who has never fully felt loved from her father, so she constantly seeks his approval. Aurora is the middle child, the one always wishing for peace amongst everyone, and always putting others before herself. Vivi Ann is the youngest and the child everyone loves so dearly, someone beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. True Colors chronicles the lives of the sisters over a few decades as they each suffer through heartbreak, found love, lost love and more.
This story is truly the portrait of a relationship over the course of a lifetime. Beginning in 1979, when the Grey girls are teenagers, and extending to the present, the book traces the ways in which sisters grow apart and come together again, often for surprising reasons and in unexpected ways. It is particularly interesting watching how Vivi Ann’s son, a troubled and violent boy who takes after his absent father, becomes the catalyst for Winona’s redemption and the sisters’ eventual reconciliation.
I really enjoy reading/listening to Kristin Hannah’s books and I am trying to catch up on all her previous works. I find her books are the perfect stories to listen to as she always manages to tell captivating and emotionally-charged tales that keep your attention even with long breaks from listening.
(I borrowed this audio book from the library.)
I want to catch up on her older works also. I have this one to read next year. She is great at captivating emotionally, totally agree.
What a nice review of this book. I read it sometime in 2011, and like you, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't read one of her books that I didn't like, some more so than others, but all in all, she is a nice storyteller.
This is a wonderful story. The sometimes strong, sometimes fragile relationship between the sisters, the fast pace, the characters who seem all too real all combine to make this a story that will stay with you long into the future.