The Weekly Pour: The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff
Hey, Book Lounge family! Pull up a comfortable chair, pour yourself something good, and settle in — because this week's pick is one we have been absolutely buzzing about since we got our hands on it.
You know how we love a book that feels like it was written just for a quiet Tuesday night — the kind where the candles are lit, the wine is poured, and you just need a story that gets it? That is exactly what Sarah Damoff delivers with The Burning Side. This is not just a book we are recommending — it is a book we are pressing into your hands.
We are building The Book Lounge as a living-room-away-from-home here in Meridian, a place where stories come alive and conversations flow. And every week with The Weekly Pour, we pair a book we truly love with a drink from our menu — because the best reads always taste better with something wonderful in hand.
About the Book
The Burning Side is the second novel from Sarah Damoff, author of the beloved debut The Bright Years — a USA TODAY bestseller translated into over twelve languages. If you loved her first book (and trust us, so many of you did), this one will absolutely floor you.
Fun Fact: The Bright Years is on the short list for the MPIBA Reading the West Debut Fiction Awards - voting is open to the public!
April and Leo are a married couple on the brink of collapse. Their relationship is fraying, their family life strained — and then, in the middle of the night, their home burns to the ground. Suddenly displaced and forced to move in with April’s parents, the couple must confront not just the wreckage of their house, but the wreckage of their marriage. And April’s parents, who appear to have the solid, enduring love April and Leo long for, are quietly facing their own devastating challenges: April’s father Billy has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, and her mother Deb is reckoning with the slow erosion of the future they had planned together.
What unfolds is a deeply layered story about what it means to stay — in a marriage, in a family, in love — when everything around you is burning.
Why We Love It
Damoff writes with a rare combination of emotional precision and lyrical warmth. This is the kind of book that does not hit you all at once — it seeps in slowly, quietly, until you realize somewhere around page 150 that you have been holding your breath.
Here is what makes it extraordinary:
It is honest about marriage in a way most books are not. Damoff does not romanticize or vilify — she simply shows two imperfect people trying to figure out if love is enough to rebuild on.
The Alzheimer’s storyline is handled with incredible tenderness. Watching Deb and Billy navigate their own grief alongside their daughter’s crumbling marriage adds a depth and intergenerational ache that stays with you long after the final page.
Damoff uses fire as both literal catastrophe and emotional metaphor. The imagery threads through the entire novel in a way that feels intentional and beautiful rather than heavy-handed.
There is a postpartum chapter that will leave you gutted. Raw, honest, and real in a way that is almost startling. Mothers especially will feel seen in a way that is both painful and profoundly comforting.
It is quietly hopeful. This is not a book about giving up. It is a book about what we are willing to salvage — and what we have to let go of first.
Perfect For Fans Of: Colleen Hoover (for the emotional depth and relationship-driven storytelling), Jodi Picoult (for the family dynamics and moral complexity), Lisa Wingate (for the warmth, hope, and beautifully rendered family relationships), Taylor Jenkins Reid (for the dual timelines and generational storytelling), and anyone who loved The Bright Years and has been counting down to Damoff’s sophomore novel
This Week’s Pour: Cinder 2022 Syrah
For a novel that burns slowly and leaves warmth in its wake, we could not think of a more fitting companion than the Cinder 2022 Syrah from our menu.
Cinder Wines is an Idaho treasure — produced right here in the Treasure Valley — and their Syrah is as complex and layered as the story Damoff has woven. Deep, bold, and richly structured, it opens with dark fruit and hints of smoke (fitting, no?), then softens into something velvety and warm as it breathes. Much like The Burning Side itself, the Syrah rewards patience — the longer you sit with it, the more it reveals.
It’s the kind of pour that pairs perfectly with an emotionally rich read: something that feels local, intentional, and a little extraordinary. Just like the best books.
Feeling something non-alcoholic? We love the Wild Abandon Cider by Meriweather — crisp, a little wild, and perfect for anyone who wants to sip while they turn pages without the alcohol.
Read Along With Us
The Burning Side is available through our online shop at bookshop.org/shop/thebooklounge.
And if you’ve already read it — comment below or on socials! We have so many feelings about that ending and we need to discuss.
Happy Reading (and Sipping!),
The Book Lounge Crew
