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.
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.
My Review:
A new-to-me author delivers a family life portrait and then does a deep dive into family dynamics.
April and Leo have been having marital problems and grown apart, somewhat estranged. He announced to her, during dinner preparation, that he wants a divorce, and as it will sometimes, the food and the fire are forgotten until the flames threaten their entire family.
With no home, the loss of everything, and nowhere to go, they move to her parents house. Leo has a tight tie with his inlaws who always treated him as their own son. Now Deb has been dealt with a diagnosis of her husband’s Alzheimers and is learning to come to terms with it.
They say events comes in threes…that old rule has happened more than once…and comes into play here. The reader is allowed POA’s of all three, April, Leon, and Deb. My perspective changes with all three, and might have changed more than once throughout the narrative.
The tension ebbs and flows while the reader begins to understand the experience of each, the pressure of a mother of little ones, while Leo exhibits increasing arm distance with little or no communication with his wife. It helps that all characters are likable but there are times when you’d like to yell at both to just talk to each other. Feelings of alienation can’t quite swallow the love each obviously still has for the other.
There are themes of abandonment, trust, loyalty, loss, and family bonds. It’s emotional but didn’t always feel authentic to me. No surprises here; the plot and storyline followed a rather predictable pattern. There is definitely a failure to communicate and that ends only one of two ways—the way you expect.
The novel is engaging, providing enough tension and interesting characters to carry the read to conclusion. If you’re a fan, you’ll no doubt find it well written and satisfying.
Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.
Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars 
Book Details:
Genre: Family Life Fiction, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Narrators: Stacy Gonzalez, Timothy Andrés Pabon, Jackie Sanders
Release Date: May 19, 2026
Title Links:
Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
The Author: Sarah Damoff is the author of the debut novel, THE BRIGHT YEARS, published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. It was a national bestseller; a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist; and Southern Literary Review Book of the Year. Her second novel, THE BURNING SIDE, is out now. Sarah’s books are being translated into over twenty languages. Her writing has also appeared in Oprah Daily, Porter House Review, Ruminate Magazine, Texas Highways, and Open Global Rights, among other publications. A Texas native, Sarah lives with her husband and children in Dallas, where she has worked in child welfare. Her third novel, STATE OF CARE, is forthcoming.
©2026 V Williams
