Archives par étiquette : Sarah Damoff

THE BURNING SIDE de Sarah Damoff

From the author of The Bright Years, the story of April and Leo, a couple on the brink of collapse. When their house goes up in flames, family secrets and thorny histories emerge as they are forced to decide what is worth salvaging.

THE BURNING SIDE
by Sarah Damoff
Simon & Schuster, May 2026
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

When April and Leo’s house burns in the middle of the night, they escape with their two young children and the quiet knowledge that the fire is not the only thing threatening their family. They retreat to April’s childhood home in Dallas, where her spirited parents and siblings provide both comfort and complication.

As the family reckons with the aftermath—grief, guilt, logistics, and memories scorched and intact—the fire exposes the cracks already forming in April and Leo’s marriage. The novel unfolds in alternating perspectives: from April, who feels the crushing weight of motherhood, marriage, and self-blame; from Leo, a high school history teacher shaped by a lonely, fractured childhood; from Deb, April’s generous and no-nonsense mother who has to contend with her husband’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis; and from flashbacks that trace April and Leo’s relationship from its earliest days of connection to the devastating decisions that led them here.

A family saga suffused with humor, longing, and heartbreak, THE BURNING SIDE is about what we inherit and what we choose, about forgiveness and the ache of being known. It is, above all, about the meaning of home and the costs of long love.

Sarah Damoff is the author of The Bright Years, which was a USA TODAY bestseller and is being translated into twelve languages. She lives with her husband and children in Texas, where she has been a social worker.

THE BRIGHT YEARS de Sarah Damoff

One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga perfect for readers of Mary Beth Keane and Claire Lombardo.

THE BRIGHT YEARS
by Sarah Damoff
Simon & Schuster, April 2025
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall.

When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.

Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.

“Tender and heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful…will make the reader feel like they are actually living through it alongside the characters.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Social worker Damoff’s heartfelt debut focuses on the impact of alcohol addiction on a family over four generations…This family drama rings true.”— Publishers Weekly

“This novel sparkles in its sentences, its texture, its big heart—THE BRIGHT YEARS is a vivid, forthright, and gorgeously written story of love in its many iterations.” — Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had and Same as it Ever Was

Sarah Damoff’s writing has appeared in Porter House Review, Ruminate Magazine, and Open Global Rights, among other publications. She holds a degree in Family Studies and a Child Protection Certification from Harvard University. A Texas native, Sarah lives in Dallas with her husband and children.