The debut novel The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff is a multi-generational story of the Bright family, composed of Ryan, Elise, Lillian and Jet. Damoff’s novel deftly tells the story of the Bright family as they navigate life’s ups and downs. We observe the Bright family as they fall in love, give birth and follow their passions and life’s dreams while tackling difficult and traumatic issues including alcohol addiction, adoption, domestic violence, miscarriage, eating disorders, grief, depression and loss. The novel is set in Texas and spans decades from 1958 - 2019. Damoff expertly tells the story from three points of view by weaving in details throughout the decades that make the characters feel real and relatable. At its core, The Bright Family is a story about family (blood related and the family you create) and the risks we take for love. Damoff’s prose is beautiful and literally brought tears to my eyes during several different parts of the novel. The Bright family’s story will stay with me for some time.

Thank you to @netgalley and @simonbooks for the ARC. The Bright Years will be published on April 1, 2025.

Wow - this was an excellent, sprawling family story that I couldn’t put down. Full of both joy and heartbreak, this debut will hook you from start to finish!

They had me at “readers of Claire Lombardo.” The Bright Years by @sarahdamoff is a generational family drama with multiple secrets, three POV told over the years of 1958 to 2019. From the preface, even before page one, we learn that what happens in childhood matters. And even for those who suffer, there is hope.

This is a highly descriptive novel, Lillian and Ryan Bright’s love story, all the births, deaths and family secrets. The third POV in the story is their daughter Georgette, known as Jet. Falling in love and alcoholism, air travel and photography. It’s a nice addition that in each year are throw away references to news and culture in the year of the chapter. Although this spans many years, it reads like a short story, and I am reminded more of Raymond Carver than Claire Lombardo. Every death grieves every other death, every birth reminds you of every other birth. I read it in one sitting.

Thanks to @netgalley and @simonbooks for the ARC. Book to be published April 1, 2025

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This is, at times, a difficult read. Heartbreak - of having an alcoholic husband and father; of being an alcoholic - the primary emotion I felt while reading this book. Told from the viewpoint of the 3 main characters, we’re given glimpses of hope. Redemption comes at the end, and it’s that redemption that bumps my 3.5 stars to 4.

An absolutely incredible debut novel from Sarah Damoff!! This is a truly beautiful and poignant story about the heartbreak, confusion, and the overpowering, all-consuming nature of love, family, friendship, addiction, grief, and the passing of time.

I love books that make me feel. Like, really FEEEEL. And this book delivered on that tenfold, and is so incredibly written. Truly such an immersive story with SO much depth. I literally felt myself in the Bright's apartment, experiencing all the love, the hurt, the loss, and so much more right alongside the family. I felt myself with Jet as she navigated her life and all of its ups and downs and moments of pain and confusion. I found myself in the pages of this book over and over again. I cried (numerous times), I smiled, and I connected with these characters on such a deep level. I truly cannot say enough good things about this book, and I am so grateful I had the chance to read it early. I will be highly recommending this book for the foreseeable future.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The writing within these pages is nothing short of stunning! I cannot tell you how many times I thought "Ooooooh, yes. That!!!" The characters are genuine, their emotions and actions relatable, and their flaws perfectly imperfect. This author has some serious chops and I can't wait to see what other things she puts out into the world. It is a difficult story to tell, but it was in the right hands, and the outcome is poignant and at times both heartbreaking and joyful.

This beautiful novel delves into the complexities of family, love, and the secrets that can either bind or break us. Ryan and Lillian Bright, a couple deeply in love and navigating the challenges of new parenthood, harbor secrets that cast long shadows over their marriage. As their daughter Georgette grows up in the midst of their hidden struggles—Ryan’s battle with alcoholism and Lillian’s undisclosed son—she witnesses the highs and lows of their relationship, shaping her own views on love and trust.

Hit with an unexpected blow, Georgette tries to distance herself from her family but finds it hard to leave her past behind. With Lillian’s son searching for his birth family, Georgette returns to her roots to delve into their family history and possibly make amends before it’s too late.

Told from three different perspectives, each character is richly drawn. While the narrative is infused with a raw, emotional honesty that resonates long after the final page, the exploration of love, grace, and redemption feels somewhat forced at times.

Overall, this is a good pick for anyone who appreciates stories of family, resilience, and the redemptive power of love.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff tells the story of Ryan and Lillian Bright. As newlyweds they happily begin their story of starting a family. However, by keeping secrets and avoiding their pasts it leads to heartache. Now their daughter Georgette must face the inherited struggles of her parents while learning to cope with her interpretation of their pain along with her own struggles in life. The book is a poignant story about secrets, addiction, loss, friendships, family and forgiveness. It’s about seeing the light even when things seem dark.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

such an easy 5 star read. i am in awe that this is sarah damoff’s debut novel and so thankful that i somehow got to read this gem prior to being published. the first pages are reviews and a blurb about the author, where i found out that she is a practicing social worker. i highlighted immediately and noted “what if she becomes my new role model?” can confirm, i prophesied and she is now my new role model. she sealed the deal by saying “i believe a good novel can do the same thing as a good social worker: help someone feel a little less alone”.

there’s no way i could write a review that would do justice to this novel. you really need to read it for yourself. it’s that good. this story highlights various stages of life across generations. we go through love, brokenness, the journey of addiction, forgiveness, reconciliation, and the meaning of family; by blood and chosen. we go through life with these characters and see all of their strengths and flaws. sarah damoff’s writing is so strong that it feels as though they are real people that we know and love. they are complex and nuanced and extremely captivating.

my small critique is that i would have preferred if this book was 1000 pages long just so i could keep reading. i do wish that we got more of davis and jet’s relationship seen on paper. i would have really enjoyed hearing them talk about lillian and discovering more of her past together. at times, it was hard to keep track of the timeline and i would have to go back to see which year the previous chapter took place in. that could just mean my memory needs to be better though.

it was so heartwarming to read a few of the things i miss most about texas. blue bell, kolaches, buc-ee’s and waco make appearances and it added an extra layer of tenderness for me. then there was a mention of mexican trains, which is our small groups favorite game to play, and a mention of taylor swift. little details but so meaningful!

thank you to sarah damoff, simon & schuster, and netgalley for an arc of this stellar novel!

I started out liking this book and ended up loving it. It begins with a romance between Ryan and Lillian and soon devolves into a complex story of secrets and addiction. Caught in the middle is their daughter Jet.

Below the surface is the secret of Lillian’s early life and the complicated alcoholism of his father that Ryan and his mother dealt with. We can spend hours dealing with the “whys” of alcoholism plaguing families. I’m looking forward to exploring this with reading groups.

Lillian’s own secret story causes reverberations within their lives, but the author cleverly gives the reader a strong and beautiful sense of closure.

Once it resurfaced, alcoholism became the catalyst for the story of the rest of their lives. It is the story of their daughter that brings this full circle.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. I think it will especially appeal to any reader who has dealt with addiction issues.

Spanning generations, The Bright Years is an emotional, but uplifting book. I really enjoyed the structure. Split into three parts, each narrated by a different character. This book is perfect if you love a character focused family drama. While the plot is interesting, the characters are really what shine through. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the ARC through NetGallery.

Literally how is this a debut novel??? I am AMAZED by Damoff's writing style. Not only is it easily digestible, but also effectively pulls at the heart strings. It is a perfectly-paced telling of a family effected by alcoholism and secrets. It does a wonderful job at showing how that impacts the family negatively, but also how family dynamics are not so black and white. A beautiful story.

I felt as if this book had a lot of potential. The storyline just didn't quite hit where I wanted it to.

I received an ARC of this upcoming debut novel through NetGalley.

This is the story, told over many years, of the Bright family. It focuses on Ryan, his wife Lillian and their daughter Georgette (Jet). There are moments of joy and many others of sadness. Ryan becomes an alcoholic and that disease has a massive impact on not just him, but his entire family. All three of them struggle through life and the author deftly portrays their trials and tribulations, their anger and their forgiveness, their moments of desperation and their search for hope.

Strong character portrayals, excellent writing and expert insight into the thoughts and feelings all the characters endure.

A TEARJERKER of a debut novel. This book started out a bit slow for me but towards the middle and end, I just wanted to abandon work and all life obligations for a chance to keep reading. This was heartfelt, emotional, and heartbreaking. Looking forward to reading more from this author. Thanks, Simon & Schuster and Netgalley, for the eARC.

I received a free ebook from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. I like fiction. Good fiction, can make you look at the world a little differently. This book is good fiction.

It's hard to better that this book is the authors first book. I look forward to reading more from her. The book jumps a lot in years. In most books, I don't like it, but it works well in this book.

A lot of times, fiction is predictable. This book was not predictable. I thought the book was about one thing but it wasn't. I thought the book was from one of the characters point of view. Later that point of view changed

The book is about so much. It's about family, pregnancy, loss, addiction, forgiveness, illness, sadness, recovery, and more. It's a book, where every reference is meaningful. It's a book that makes you think.

This is a good book to read or re-read when you are going through life's challenges. It's a book to read when you need hope. It's a good book to make sense of life's strangeness.

Very surprised this is her debut novel. Lovely story that is so heartfelt and relatable. You really feel for all of the characters and I like that the viewpoints shifted throughout the book.

My emotions are all over the place after reading this book. I feel like authors can make you connect with characters in a book, but it's rare for them to also teach you and make you empathize at the same time about subjects such as addictions. Sarah Damoff did that for me in this debut novel, and to say I'm still sitting here thinking about it is an understatement.
A truly stunning piece of writing, thank you, Netgalley and Simon & Schuster, for the ARC of this book!

So many secrets in one family but also so much love even though there is pain so much pain as well. This was really an amazing first book by this author. This was such an emotional read. I really felt for each and every character in this novel. I highly recommend this book!

This book took me by surprise because although I was familiar with the broad strokes of the plot (family of three, going through it), there was a huge amount of trials and tribulations packed into a pretty short book. I truly loved the plot structure, of having each narrate a chunk of time. It let the characters each have their focus while still navigating the relationships between them well. Folks who are struggling with grief about death or addiction should very much check CWs before reading; I thought it was handled in a very realistic way from my experience but it would have been a lot if my grief was fresh. The only thing that didn’t quite work for me was how much skipping around the plot did; it felt like often we were skipping years to get through it all, but it contributed to the feeling of “wow there is a lot going on for this family.” All in all, I’d definitely recommend to someone who enjoys emotional family literary fiction - I couldn’t put it down!