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The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff

Contemporary fiction

The Bright Years

Debut
Early Release

by Sarah Damoff

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Quick take

In this heart-wrenching story, a family plagued by secrets struggles to reconcile and risks falling apart for good.

Early Release

Read it before it hits other bookstores on April 22nd.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Multiple_Viewpoints

    Multiple viewpoints

  • Illustrated icon, Nonlinear_Timeline

    Nonlinear timeline

  • Illustrated icon, Marriage_Issues

    Marriage issues

  • Illustrated icon, Drugs_and_Alcohol

    Drug & alcohol use

Synopsis

Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall.

When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.

Content warning

This book contains scenes that depict a miscarriage, domestic abuse, and eating disorders as well as mentions of suicidal ideation.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of The Bright Years.

The Bright Years

1958

He’s coloring a night sky on the underbelly of the kitchen table. His parents are too busy fighting to notice. It always starts with his father’s thirst. Next comes the television set. His mother turns up the volume so the antics of Wally and Beaver or Lucy and Ricky will drown out the yelling.

A pound cake sits on the oak table above him. The sugary smell teases the boy. He forced down his peas, but now he might not even get a slice. Behind his parents’ bedroom door, there’s a thump. What sounds like a loud clap. A crash. His mother, her voice muffled, says something about upsetting the landlord.

With a chunky white crayon, the boy adds a star to his sky. He bites his lip and narrows his eyes, neck craned upward to study his work. Now the challenge is how to make clouds show up. He decides to try purple over the black of night. Doesn’t work. He adds a faint white outline along the wood grain, tracing the purple. Better. He smiles proudly.

His mother’s navy pumps cross the yellow linoleum. He watches her apron swoosh and braces for his father to follow with his grass-stained socks and loudness. But the only sounds are his mother’s steps, cabinets opening and closing, and June Cleaver asking Wally where he’s going.

The boy watches his mother’s busy calves. Then, suddenly, her red-streaked face appears. She grips the table above her head, squatting down into the shadow of the boy’s world. He holds his breath. He knows good and well that he shouldn’t be drawing on furniture, but the blank wood was pleading for color.

“Play a game with me, dear?”

He frowns.

She touches his face softly with her thumb and whispers, “You know how silly your father is. He’s playing a little hide-and-seek game with the Oldsmobile key. Help me find it?”

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Member ratings (11)

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Contemporary fiction
View all
Wild Dark Shore
The Last Love Note
What Does It Feel Like?
Deep Cuts
Jane and Dan at the End of the World
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
More or Less Maddy
The Wedding People
Good Dirt
Penitence
The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits
The Favorites
Honey
The Bright Years
We All Live Here
The Leftover Woman
Fun for the Whole Family
Water Baby
We Could Be Rats
The Same Bright Stars
The Three Lives of Cate Kay
What Happened to the McCrays?
Bye, Baby
Definitely Better Now
Swan Song
The Days I Loved You Most
The Connellys of County Down
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life
Jackpot Summer
Adelaide
I Might Be in Trouble
The Collected Regrets of Clover
Again and Again
Evil Eye
Black Cake
Maame
Romantic Comedy
Someone Else’s Shoes
We Are the Brennans
The Bad Muslim Discount
What Comes After
Olga Dies Dreaming
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
Monster in the Middle
Nine Perfect Strangers
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
Honey Girl
In Every Mirror She's Black
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Sankofa
The Unsinkable Greta James
The Love of My Life
The Five-Star Weekend
A Home for the Holidays
The Wishing Game
Behold the Dreamers
The Mothers
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Little Fires Everywhere
The Music Shop
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
The Reckless Oath We Made
When We Were Vikings
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Big Summer
All Adults Here
Happy & You Know It
Friends and Strangers
The Comeback
True Story
The Last Story of Mina Lee
Troubles in Paradise
White Ivy
This Close to Okay
The Chicken Sisters
The Prophets
In a Book Club Far Away
The Other Black Girl
Apples Never Fall
A Quiet Life
We Are the Light
The Most Likely Club
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
When We Were Bright and Beautiful
The Hotel Nantucket