True Colors: A Novel

Vivi Ann is the youngest Grey sister and the other main point-of-view character. Vivi Ann is conventionally beautiful and is the best with horses of the three sisters—traits that endear her to her father. She inherits her mother’s horse, Clem, and she eventually runs Water’s Edge alongside Henry.

Because of her beauty, her father’s attention and approval, and her older sisters’ protection, Vivi Ann initially has an easier life than her sisters. Thus, she has a more optimistic and positive outlook. Where Winona is serious and intense, Vivi Ann is more joyful and carefree, as evidenced by her relationship with Luke, which she just sees as a way to have a good time. However, Vivi Ann is capable of deep passion and feeling and displays both when she meets Dallas. He is the first person Vivi Ann has ever felt so intensely for, and she is head over heels in love with Dallas from the moment they meet for the rest of her life.

Vivi Ann’s relationship with Dallas reveals different facets of her character: Having had things relatively easy all her life, she acts impulsively, starting an affair with Dallas while still with Luke and later deciding to marry Dallas despite her family’s disapproval. Vivi Ann’s inherent optimism shines through when Dallas is convicted, as she spends years fighting to free him from prison, believing that her efforts will come to fruition. When she is forced to accept that this will not happen, her entire worldview is shattered, and it breaks her for a time. Though she recovers from drug and alcohol addiction for the sake of her son, she never stops loving Dallas despite years of separation. Her character arc thus speaks to The Enduring Power of Love, which is instrumental in persuading Winona to take on Dallas’s case and Dallas to agree to the DNA test. Vivi Ann’s arc resolves with Dallas being freed and returning home.

Henry Grey is Winona, Vivi Ann, and Aurora’s father. His grandfather homesteaded Water’s Edge and founded the town of Oyster Shores, and the ranch and land have been in the family ever since.

Because of this history, Henry values family pride above all else, and he equates this with family loyalty. Henry’s misplaced emphasis on the family’s reputation even influences the way he treats each of his daughters: He is the most cutting toward and dismissive of Winona, who has the least equestrian talent of the three sisters, as he sees it as a failing. Vivi Ann, who is naturally gifted with horses, is Henry’s unquestioned favorite, and he excuses most things that she does, including marrying Dallas. However, because his affection for his daughters is rooted in family pride, his love as a father is ultimately conditional. When Dallas threatens the family’s reputation, even Henry’s love for Vivi Ann is not enough for him to lend her support. He refuses to help pay for a competent attorney to defend Dallas, and when Winona eventually takes on the case, he openly disapproves. Henry even refuses to welcome Dallas home after the latter is declared innocent.

Part of Henry’s disapproval is rooted in racial prejudice. He dislikes the fact that Dallas is Indigenous American, viewing it as another source of family shame. Ultimately, Henry’s prejudice and obsession with appearances cost him; the three sisters, Dallas, and Noah all joyfully reunite while Henry is left on the outside, excluded from the family he claimed to care so much about. His character arc is thus key to the novel’s exploration of The Bonds of Sisterhood and Family Loyalty, as his conception of family sharply contrasts with the one his daughters ultimately embrace.

Dallas is Vivi Ann’s love interest and eventually her husband and the father of Noah. Winona hires him as a ranch hand on Water’s Edge, and from the moment Dallas and Vivi Ann meet, they are drawn to each other. After their secret and passionate affair is exposed, they marry and have a child together.

Dallas’s wrongful conviction is the central conflict in the book, as it shakes the foundations of the Grey family. Dallas is accused of murdering a local woman, Cat Morgan, because of his previous association with her, as well as his prior criminal record. Dallas’s fate is sealed by a combination of Myrtle mistakenly tying him to the crime scene and Dallas himself not fighting to prove his innocence. The latter stems from the baggage Dallas carries from his violent and traumatic past: Dallas was physically abused as a child by his father, whom he also watched shoot and kill his mother. These experiences leave Dallas mistrusting of the system that failed to protect him as a child, as well as fearful that he has inherited his father’s violent streak.

In some ways, Dallas’s fear acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Before meeting Vivi Ann, he broke the law numerous times and got into violent scrapes. Even when he is with Vivi Ann, he has trouble controlling his temper and gets into a violent fight the night Noah is born, as he is worried about the life of his premature child. Nevertheless, Dallas’s relationships with people in his life prove that his inherent nature is not what he believes it to be. He is perpetually loyal to Vivi Ann; not only does he never harm her himself, but he also vows to protect her from anyone who might hurt her. He is equally loving and engaged as a father, in sharp contrast to Dallas’s own father.

Because others judge him for his troubled past, Dallas exemplifies the harms of preconceived notions and prejudice. That he is Indigenous American reinforces this message, as racial prejudice contributes to his wrongful conviction and mistreatment (though the novel itself also slips into racist stereotypes in its depiction of Dallas). His eventual release is an instance of poetic justice, especially as the townsfolk who previously condemned him flock to Water’s Edge to offer their apologies and support.