Hannah's background as a romance writer is evident in her lush descriptions of nature as well as in the metaphor, hyperbole, and personification that often cross over into sentimentality. From the first line, in which rain falls "like tiny silver teardrops from the tired sky," the climate and the landscape frequently foreshadow or reflect the emotions of the characters. Rain and tears appear in abundance and are often linked.

More than once the reader is reminded that the rain is "an angel's tears"; Annie tells Izzy that rain is her mother's tears, "and the sunshine is her smile."

The descriptions of Mystic are equally idealized and sentimental, the sky starting "deep in the palm of God's hand," dusk portrayed as day rounding "the bend into a lavender evening." Descriptions of characters are also cliched and hyperbolic: one character has "breasts the size of the Alps" and another character's...