I got a promo copy of this novel from work a little while ago, and after hearing so much hype about Kristin Hannah, I was really excited to read it. However, the three sisters around whom this drama revolves are thinly characterized: Winona is the brainy but insecure overweight one, Vivi Ann is the young and beautiful one, and Aurora is pretty much just the middle one - she's probably the easiest character to relate to in the entire novel, but she gets the least amount of narrative time.
Hannah has a way of repeatedly telling you how miserable and how upset and how in love her characters are without ever having them do anything to reveal these emotions, which makes the writing rather stilted. In fact, most of the storyline - the three sisters with an absentee mother battling over the affection and approval of their emotionally distant, alcoholic father - is deeply reminiscent of Jane Smiley's Pulitzer-winning A Thousand Acres, and the whole time I was reading True Colors, I was reminded of how much better Smiley's family drama is.
Hannah has a way of repeatedly telling you how miserable and how upset and how in love her characters are without ever having them do anything to reveal these emotions, which makes the writing rather stilted. In fact, most of the storyline - the three sisters with an absentee mother battling over the affection and approval of their emotionally distant, alcoholic father - is deeply reminiscent of Jane Smiley's Pulitzer-winning A Thousand Acres, and the whole time I was reading True Colors, I was reminded of how much better Smiley's family drama is.
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