Synopsis:
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.
Review:
An intimately humane, realistic (slightly overly optimistic) story of family.
In its surface, this is a character study on April and Leo, a married couple on the brink of divorce. On the exact night they decide to separate, their home is destroyed by a kitchen fire.
They move in with April’s loving parents, subtle tensions being hidden.
You get POVs from April, Leo, and April’s mother who is managing her husband’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Each perspective is utterly raw and you can’t help but empathise with every single one, no matter their own actions and blame.
I am not a mother and yet, I knew with certainty that any mother would relate to April.
I have never been faced with the choices that Leo and April’s mother were, yet their conflicting pain came through.
Alzheimer’s is a form of time travel, but time travel hurts. It always leaves someone behind.
This examines the choices and negotiations required to endure in a marriage. As someone with loving and supportive parents who have been married for more than 35 years, I can attest that love is a constant reframing.
I did think the ending was slightly at odds with the rest of the novel whilst also providing a satisfying conclusion. Maybe I am just too pessimistic.
If I could put my finger on it, I’d pin it on the abruptness of the turning point. I think a bit more page time could have made this feel more genuine, in line with the rest of the book. I am being vague due to spoilers.
Ultimately, it is a story about family. The bond that will always be regardless of situation and emotions. Everyone has a mother and father after all.
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