Sarah Damoff’s second novel, The Burning Side, is just as rich in poignant moments and nuanced characters as her first, The Bright Years, which Southern Literary Review selected as its 2025 Book of the Year. The Burning Side explores two very different marriages, revealing both the best and the worst of committed love. One begins […]
Southern Literary Review’s 2025 Books of the Year
December 17, 2025 by Leave a Comment
The editors of Southern Literary Review select several books each year to receive special recognition. (See criteria here.) Congratulations to the authors of these fine additions to Southern literature! Book of the Year – (Tie) The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff The Miniaturist’s Assistant by Katherine Scott Crawford Poetry Lullaby for […]
The Short List for 2025 Books of the Year
December 3, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Books of the Year will be announced Dec. 18 The editors of Southern Literary Review select several books each year to receive special recognition. It recognizes books published over the previous two years (with October of the current year as the cut-off date for consideration.) Categories are Book of the Year, recognizing a novel or nonfiction full-length work; […]
Read of the Month: “The Bright Years” by Sarah Damoff
April 30, 2025 by Leave a Comment
The Bright Years (Simon & Schuster 2025) by Sarah Damoff shimmers as an exquisite, poignant portrait of a family crumbling as their painful pasts push their way into the present. It is a story of addiction and recovery. Of love and loss. Of forgiveness and redemption. Set in Texas, The Bright Years takes readers on […]