Las hermanas Dawson no podrían ser más distintas: Victoria es una chica rellenita y tímida que lucha por lograr la aprobación de sus padres; Gracie, en cambio, encaja con la exigencias de la familia. Pero el amor que sienten la una por la otra siempre ha sido incondicional... hasta ahora.
Al nacer, Victoria Dawson fue una encantadora niña rubia con ojos azules y un tanto regordeta... Aunque esto no era así para sus padres. Siempre se ha sentido poco valorada por ellos y con la sensación de que jamás estaría a la altura de sus expectativas. Con la llegada de su hermana menor, la preciosa y perfecta Gracie, la situación empeoró y tuvo que acostumbrarse a los comentarios cínicos de sus padres y a que la tacharan de ser «la prueba piloto» de la descendencia de los Dawson.
Crecer en una ciudad como Los Ángeles, donde la belleza y el físico es casi un culto, tampoco facilitó las cosas. Victoria siempre había soñado con el día en que pondría tierra de por medio, pero ni siquiera trasladándose a Chicago y cumpliendo sus sueños profesionales puede ahuyentar las críticas de su familia. Gracie es la única que jamás la ha juzgado por el físico. Con ella siempre había compartido un vínculo muy especial que parecía imposible de romper... o eso creía.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
In this heartfelt and incisive new novel, Danielle Steel celebrates the virtues of unconventional beauty while exploring deeply resonant issues of weight, self-image, sisterhood, and family.
A chubby little girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and ordinary looks, Victoria Dawson has always felt out of place in her family, especially in body-conscious L.A. Her father, Jim, is tall and slender, and her mother, Christina, is a fine-boned, dark-haired beauty. Both are self-centered, outspoken, and disappointed by their daughter’s looks. When Victoria is six, she sees a photograph of Queen Victoria, and her father has always said she looks just like her. After the birth of Victoria’s perfect younger sister, Gracie, her father liked to refer to his firstborn as “our tester cake.” With Gracie, everyone agreed that Jim and Christina got it right.
While her parents and sister can eat anything and not gain an ounce, Victoria must watch everything she eats, as well as endure her father’s belittling comments about her body and see her academic achievements go unacknowledged. Ice cream and oversized helpings of all the wrong foods give her comfort, but only briefly. The one thing she knows is that she has to get away from home, and after college in Chicago, she moves to New York City.
Landing her dream job as a high school teacher, Victoria loves working with her students and wages war on her weight at the gym. Despite tension with her parents, Victoria remains close to her sister. And though they couldn’t be more different in looks, they love each other unconditionally. But regardless of her accomplishments, Victoria’s parents know just what to say to bring her down. She will always be her father’s “big girl,” and her mother’s constant disapproval is equally unkind.
When Grace announces her engagement to a man who is an exact replica of their narcissistic father, Victoria worries about her sister’s future happiness, and with no man of her own, she feels like a failure once again. As the wedding draws near, a chance encounter, an act of stunning betrayal, and a family confrontation lead to a turning point.
Behind Victoria is a lifetime of hurt and neglect she has tried to forget, and even ice cream can no longer dull the pain. Ahead is a challenge and a risk: to accept herself as she is, celebrate it, and claim the victories she has fought so hard for and deserves. Big girl or not, she is terrific and discovers that herself.
