This is a well-paced novel that deals with the joys and heartbreaks of life. April and Leo meet at school, where they both care deeply about their students, especially the ones with challenges that mirror the ones each of them dealt with as students. April struggled with dyslexia and Leo was an immigrant boy abandoned by his own parents. Their love is the first conflagration of the novel, and the basis for so many others.
Notwithstanding, parenthood, especially of their second child, overwhelms them. April feels lost and unseen by her husband, and Leo feels abandoned, again. Especially when he walks in on his wife and her boss in unmistakable compromise.
Then their house burns to the ground.
The conflict between them ground this multi-point-of-view novel, rotating between the two of them and Aprils almost-too-good-to-be-true mother. April’s family has given Leo the family he never had, and their mutual love and respect makes the conflict between April and Leo even harder. Add a recent diagnosis of April’s father’s quickly advancing Alzheimer’s, and a reappearance of Leo’s family and the novel becomes a can’t put down read.
The Burning Side was released on May 19, 2026, by Simon and Shuster. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
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