The Burning Side

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.

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 debut novel, THE BRIGHT YEARS, published by Simon & Schuster on April 22, 2025. It was a national bestseller; a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist; Southern Literary Review Book of the Year; and it is being translated into fourteen languages. Her writing has appeared in Oprah Daily, 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 with her husband and children in Dallas, where she has been a social worker. Her second novel, THE BURNING SIDE, is forthcoming in May 2026.