Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff is an absolute winner that broke my heart and put it all back together again. It’s not often that a sophomore novel can beat a debut, but in this case it did. I loved it just as much or more than The Bright Years.
Damoff is incredibly skilled at finding nuance in the simplest of moments, which allows the writing to shine. Each of the characters are fleshed out so that the reader truly relates with them and gets to know them personally. I loved Deb and Billy and how their love story came together and how they wrestled with the complications of Alzheimer’s.
April and Leo were an enigma that was sorted out through the storyline. Understanding why Leo wanted a divorce was difficult to grasp and it often had me on the cusp of weeping. This book is full of family drama, secrets unleashed, infidelity and memory, yet it’s all still cloaked in under a veil of hope.
Quirky but true, I loved the authors use of language. She has an extensive vocabulary, and I appreciate that she trusted the reader with that. Never did this book feel contrived or formulaic as many books do. Damoff has found the perfect way to tell this particular story. I’m highly recommending this one.
Quotes I liked:
We live in homes until we leave them, and then they live in us.”
“Alzheimer’s is a form of time travel, but time travel hurts. It always leaves someone behind.”
“And the anticipation of grief is a grief itself.”
