The Burning Side by Sarah Damhoff @sarahdamoff @stacygonzalezbooks @timapabon @hellojacks @simon.audio @simonaudio.bsky.social #TheBurningSide

the setup…
April and Leo Torres are roused in the middle of the night when their house is suddenly in flames. They escape with their two young children and find respite with her family in nearby Dallas. Their house isn’t the only thing on fire as they face the fracturing of their marriage. She’s a reading tutor from an affluent family; he’s a history teacher whose family fell apart when he was very young. Now as they face an uncertain future, April and Leo look back on their lives and reflect on what tore them apart.

the heart of the story…
April, Leo and Deb Russo (April’s mother) provide the narratives. Their perspectives provide so much insight into not only themselves but their perceptions of each other. Deb is trying to manage her own feelings about husband Billy’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and how to tell her children. The shifts from the timeframe of the house fire to different points of time in the past were instructive and expertly timed. I came to care deeply about these people, even when they weren’t behaving their best. I wasn’t always sure who or what I was rooting for because of the emotional complexities.

the narration…
Stacy Gonzalez, Timothy Andrés Pabon and Jackie Sanders gave beautiful performances while expertly capturing the essences of their characters without a lot of drama. They came across authentically.

the bottom line…
I became an immediate fan of the author after reading her debut novel, The Bright Years, which was brilliant. I counted on my heart being pricked again and there is that. But her deft touch in defining these characters is where the artistry shines. There is no judgment of right or wrong, just the reality of a multigenerational family grappling with tough life choices, the need for forgiveness and seeing each other as they want to be seen and heard. Another masterpiece I struggle to give justice.

Book Info

• Release Date: May 19, 2026
• Narrators: Stacy Gonzalez, Timothy Andrés Pabon & Jackie Sanders
• Audio Length: 9 hours, 21 minutes
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

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(Thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio and Libro.fm for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)