SOURCE: Leland, Elizabeth. “An Easy Switch from Columns to Fiction.” Nieman Reports 49, no. 1 (spring 1995): 65.

In the following review, Leland praises Quindlen's style in One True Thing, but points to a few of the novel's weaknesses as well.

When I heard that Anna Quindlen decided to write novels full-time, charging confidently into a new career that many journalists dare only dream about, my first thought was: can she pull this one off, too? If One True Thing is any indication, the answer is as clear as her writing style: “yes.”

Yes, she switches from fact to fiction as easily as she switched from New York Times columnist to stay-at-home mom after the birth of her second son. Yes, she abandons the formula of journalism for descriptive, sometimes powerful, prose. And yes, she weaves a tale that's both captivating and convincing.

The publication of One True Thing coincided with Quindlen's...