True Colors

by Kristin Hannah

Book Overview

Women across America laughed, cried, and reconnected with their friends after reading Kristin Hannah's smash hit, Firefly Lane. Now, in True Colors, she explores the poignant, powerful, complex world of sisters...

The Grey sisters had only each other when their mother died years ago. Their stern, unyielding father gave them almost no attention. Winona, the oldest, needs her father's approval most of all. An overweight...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312606125
• ISBN13: 9780312606121
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 5.4" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Good read

Long book but finished it quickly, easy to keep reading.

Well written, interesting story line

Another good story from Kristin Hannah. Characters are well developed. Storyline kept me invested. Sharing my copy with friends, as I recommend this book, especially if you like Kristin Hannah books.

One of my favorites!

This is by far one of the best Kristin Hannah books I have read so far. I loved the storyline so much I couldn't put it down! My only complaint is that there isn't a sequel.

Awesome story, and was SO hard to put down, once started.

I absolutely loved this book and all the twists and turns to the plot. It was almost impossible to lay it down, as I wanted to read it cover-to-cover, as the story keeps one riveted. And even at the close of it, I wished there was a sequel to it to tell me more.

An Emotional Story about Sisters

After their mother died the Grey sisters, who had been close, grew even closer. However, with the exception of Vivi Ann, the youngest, their father seemed to grow distant, especially from Winona, the oldest. She never seemed to be good enough for Daddy. Henry Grey is a man who believes appearances matter more than reality. Winona grows up to be an attorney, but she never outgrows the need for Henry's approval and she never gets it. Aurora, the sister in the middle, seems to always be trying to make peace, first between Winona and Henry, then between Wiinona and Vivi Ann. And Vivi Ann, unlike her sisters, stayed on the family horse ranch, where she is the apple of Henry's eye, much to Winona's chagrin. But still the sisters have a bond nothing can break. Or can it? When two handsome men come to town, one a man Winona had loved when she was a girl and the other a dark stranger, everything is going to change for the Grey sister. Winona and Vivi Ann will be at war with each other and will do things neither ever could ever have imagined and all of Aurora's peacemaking efforts will come to nought. Years will pass and one wonders if these sisters, who loved each other so much, will ever reconnect. This is a novel full of emotion that moves right along with a fast pace. It's a novel about love, forgiveness, redemption and most of all it's a story about sisters and the bond that holds them together.

A Story about the Value of Family

This is a mainstream story about the value of family and about three sisters, who sometimes forget family comes first. It's the kind of book that tells it like it is between family and how we can so easily misjudge those we love, by thinking we know what's best for them when we don't. Winona Grey thinks she knows what's best for her younger sister Vivi Ann, who she's been a little jealous of her whole life. When the man Winona loves, an old flame returned to town named Luke Connelly, asks Vivi Ann out. Winona says nothing to her sister, when all she had to was tell Vivi Ann how she felt and Vivi Ann never would have gone on the date. But Winona stays silent and Luke winds up proposing to Vivi Ann and Vivi Ann accepts. However, Dallas Raintree comes to town and captures Vivi Ann's heart. They have a torrid affair. Winona finds out and tells Luke and now the wedding is off. But instead of being grateful to Winona, he's furious. He was so in love, he'd rather not have known and because of her meddling, she's given Vivi Ann a way out of the engagement and now she's free to marry Dallas, which she does. Then Dallas is arrested for murder and Aurora Grey, the middle sister, tries to get Winona to rally behind Vivi Ann and her new husband as Winona is a lawyer and Dallas really needs the help of a good attorney. But Winona turns her back on her sisters and Dallas gets life, Luke leaves town and Winona is miserable. Can she make everything come out right in the end? Does she even want to? That's for you to find out in the second half of the book. That's where the suspense comes in, that's where the real value of family comes in. That's the heart and soul of this story. A story I liked very much.

KRISTIN HANNAH AT HER VERY BEST!!!!

There are several things readers have come to expect when they read a Kristin Hannah book--that they'll get an amazing, compelling, emotional story, that they can't put down once they've started. While TRUE COLORS is no exception, there is a degree of depth to this novel that sets it apart from anything the author has written in the past. A degree of depth that won't simply satisfy her legions of current fans, but I dare say should bring her to the attention of many more. Spanning nearly 30 years in the lives of the Grey sisters of Water's Edge, a waterfront ranch on the shores of Washington state's picturesque Hood Canal, first meet the sisters in 1979 just after the death of their beloved mother. It's obvious from the beginning that her loss is going to leave an enormous hole in their hearts and have long-lasting effects in the lives of these young girls. But even worse, their grieving father Henry buries his soul when he buries his wife, coping with life by drowning his sorrows in a bottle of hard liquor. The book quickly fast forwards 13 years where we find oldest sister Winona just beginning her law practice in the nearby town of Oyster Shores, Aurora a young wife and mother of twins, while the youngest the beautiful but fragile Vivi Ann is an expert barrel racer on the western rodeo circuit, living at home, helping her father on the failing ranch that has been in their family for generations. Vivi Ann soon comes up with a plan to save the ranch and resurrects it into a thriving horse arena for lessons and competitions. Meanwhile Winona, who has been fighting a weight problem all her life, may, at long last, have romance come her way when her childhood crush, veterinarian Luke Connelly returns to town. She is excited that this time their relationship may become more than just friendship--until he is captivated by the beautiful ViviAnn. Although Vivi Ann doesn't totally return his feelings, they eventually become engaged. Winona has a difficult time hiding her jealousy. All of this causes a rift between the sisters that won't soon be mended, especially when the new ranch hand and quintessential "bad boy" Dallas Raintree excites Vivi Ann much more than Luke ever can. This sets in place a tragedy that changes the complexion of the sisters' relationship forever. This also sets in place events that propel this novel from one of Kristin Hannah's hallmark "domestic dramas" into one that is part legal drama, a coming of age story of a teenage boy, a story of redemption and forgiveness, and of loyalty and unfailing belief in someone when it really counts. Kristin Hannah excels in knowing how to pull at the reader's heartstrings, to touch their emotional sweet spot, and with TRUE COLORS she pulls at those heartstrings and doesn't let go. TRUE COLORS is Kristin Hannah at her very best - maybe even better than her very best. As usual readers need to keep the hankies handy for the read that is absolutely unputdownable and totally satisfying. As impo

A Captivating Saga...Powerful Bonds....

"Show us your true colors, who you used to be?" This is the question posed to the patriarch of the Grey family, by the oldest daughter Winona - at a pivotal moment in their lives - and when he responded by slamming the door to his study, making himself an island, separate and alone, she knew. He had chosen not to care about the things that mattered to his daughters. Thus comes the beginning of the end to this family saga. The three sisters, joined by family connections and the wish of their dying mother that they never forget that they are sisters...Connected by their heritage and their history, these three - Winona, the oldest, a well-known attorney, who is always seeking (and seldom receiving) her father's approval; Aurora, the family peacemaker; and Vivi Ann, the undisputed star of the family, the one to whom everything seemingly comes easily...Until that time when a stranger comes to town. When Vivi Ann falls for the handsome, dangerous-appearing man who has become their ranch hand, she is already engaged to Luke - the love of Winona's life - and settled into an acceptable plan for her own future. Marriage, children - all of the things she supposedly wants - but instead, she walks the dangerous path of defiance and runs off with her lover. Dallas Raintree, half-Indian with a juvenile history of assaults and thefts, strikes a discordant note in all of their lives. For Winona, especially - since her unrequited love for Luke is now a possibility, if only Vivi Ann leaves him for another. But when Winona manipulates things so that Luke discovers the betrayal, she is totally unprepared for the consequences that will ripple through all of their lives for years to come. For the joining of Dallas and Vivi Ann is not the end of anything. It is the beginning of a lifetime for Vivi Ann of being on the outside of the approval her father cares so much about. And when something happens that wrests away the happiness the two lovers had sought - something outside the law - the pair spends many years apart, wronged by the judgment of a town and the small-minded law enforcement investigation that rushes to judgment. Will Winona finally come through for her sister and the "wronged" lover? Can she find a resolution that will turn aside a conviction? True Colors is a magnificent portrayal of family dynamics that shift and turn as destiny unfolds. A memorable and thought-provoking voyage to a satisfying conclusion. Laurel-Rain Snow Author of: Miles to Go, etc.

Singing "True Colors" for a week now!

True Colors, by Kristin Hannah, is another solid entry into an extensive body of work. It is a stand alone book and does not feature characters from any of her other novels. The book starts out in a small town, in Washington state, and follows the lives of three sisters over the course of 30 years. When their mother dies, the oldest is tasked with being the strong one for the girls, since their father has shut down emotionally. This affects all their relationships; with would be spouses, children and friends. And of course, all their trials and tribulations are known to everyone in town! What I love most about this author is that she creates female characters that are at the same time both strong and flawed, and they are allowed to blossom, in spite of their defects. It is about the importance of family and community, and how in the end, love, hope and honesty is what really matters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait for her next one!