Dallas author Sarah Damoff crafts a compelling family saga in ‘The Bright Years’

The UNT grad taps into her background in social work to deliver a debut novel filled with understanding and humanity.

By Joyce Sáenz Harris
Special Contributor
Apr. 16, 2025
Updated 5:00 a.m. CDT

In the author’s note at the front of the advance copy of The Bright Years, Dallas author Sarah Damoff, 38, writes about how her first novel came to be. It began with a cherished childhood friend — a boy whose father was an alcoholic — who grew up fighting that same affliction. He lost his battle and died at age 22, leaving behind a young daughter.

By then, Damoff was already working with foster children. “I became a social worker because of the same two realizations that would lead me to write The Bright Years,” she writes. “The first is this: What happens in childhood matters. The second: Even for those who suffer in childhood, there is hope yet.”

After earning a degree from the University of North Texas and spending two decades in social work, Damoff believes that “a good novel can do the same thing as a good social worker: Help someone feel a little less alone.”

The Bright Years is more than just a good novel. It is so masterfully constructed and so sensitively, satisfyingly written that one finds it hard to believe it is a first novel. It contains all the realism of everyday life for millions of everyday people: passionate romance, betrayal, abandonment, survival and overcoming the odds. It’s a family saga filled with heart and hope, pain and joy, love and grief. And it makes you feel that you know these people, because you probably know people very much like them.

It opens in 1958 by briefly but urgently introducing the core of the story: a mother and child, Elise and Ryan Brighton, going on the run from their drunken, abusive husband and father. Then, in turn, the novel weaves together the story of the three main characters, the Bright family of Fort Worth: Ryan, Lillian and Georgette, nicknamed Jet.

Each one tells their own story, starting with studious young bank employee Lillian Wright and her meet-cute with bank customer Ryan Brighton in the Fort Worth Public Library. Ryan is an aspiring artist who also wants to be a gallerist, and when he and Lillian get married, they make that happen, launching a Sundance Square gallery of local artists in 1982. They also decide to combine their surnames to create a new married name, and thus Brighton melds with Wright to become Bright.

The abusive father is long out of Ryan’s life, but Ryan and Lillian have the love and support of his mother, Elise, and for a time, all is well. The Sundance Gallery is growing, and Lillian becomes pregnant. She loses that first pregnancy, but her second one is successful, and in midsummer 1986, Jet, she says, “is pulled from me like a tooth.” As her newborn squirms inside a swaddling blanket, Lillian realizes something: “I begin to understand that keeping a child is like keeping the sky — always with me but never mine.”

Though baby Jet thrives, the gallery’s fortunes dip and rise. Worse: Lillian has a 12-year-old secret she has been keeping from her husband, and when she finally spills it, everything changes. Afterward, she throws herself “entirely into being the best possible mom for Georgette. I don’t mean to choose her over everyone else, but it’s a choice made deep in my bones,” Lillian says. “And this is how I manage to miss it when my husband’s eyes begin to hollow out like craters.”

Because of his father’s addiction, Ryan never drank alcohol, and at social events the Brights order only mocktails. Until one day in 1987, when Ryan comes home with a six-pack of Shiner, saying he “had a drink with some of the artists last weekend. Wasn’t a big deal.” But Lillian is certain he “needed a secret as some kind of payback for me having a past,” and they grow apart as empty bottles and cans accumulate in the kitchen trash.

Lillian raises Jet with the help of Elise and the support of dear friends, while absent Ryan struggles through 14 years of trying to get and stay sober. Things are better for a while when Ryan does get sober, and then things suddenly get much worse. This part of the book starts in mid-2001, just before 9/11, and a grieving teenage Jet is aghast when “this greedy earth devours three thousand and more lives in one gulp when planes crash into the World Trade Center.” How can anything ever feel right again?

There is realistic sadness in The Bright Years. But there is happiness, too, because there is so much enduring love. Where there are loyal friends and family, the Brights learn, there is hope. Damoff is so clear-sighted, so full of understanding and humanity, that her readers, too, will surely feel a little less alone.
m me like a tooth.” As her newborn squirms inside a swaddling blanket, Lillian realizes something: “I begin to understand that keeping a child is like keeping the sky — always with me but never mine.”

Though baby Jet thrives, the gallery’s fortunes dip and rise. Worse: Lillian has a 12-year-old secret she has been keeping from her husband, and when she finally spills it, everything changes. Afterward, she throws herself “entirely into being the best possible mom for Georgette. I don’t mean to choose her over everyone else, but it’s a choice made deep in my bones,” Lillian says. “And this is how I manage to miss it when my husband’s eyes begin to hollow out like craters.”

Because of his father’s addiction, Ryan never drank alcohol, and at social events the Brights order only mocktails. Until one day in 1987, when Ryan comes home with a six-pack of Shiner, saying he “had a drink with some of the artists last weekend. Wasn’t a big deal.” But Lillian is certain he “needed a secret as some kind of payback for me having a past,” and they grow apart as empty bottles and cans accumulate in the kitchen trash.

Lillian raises Jet with the help of Elise and the support of dear friends, while absent Ryan struggles through 14 years of trying to get and stay sober. Things are better for a while when Ryan does get sober, and then things suddenly get much worse. This part of the book starts in mid-2001, just before 9/11, and a grieving teenage Jet is aghast when “this greedy earth devours three thousand and more lives in one gulp when planes crash into the World Trade Center.” How can anything ever feel right again?

There is realistic sadness in The Bright Years. But there is happiness, too, because there is so much enduring love. Where there are loyal friends and family, the Brights learn, there is hope. Damoff is so clear-sighted, so full of understanding and humanity, that her readers, too, will surely feel a little less alone.

The Bright Years
By Sarah Damoff
(Simon and Schuster, 273 pages, $27.99)

Wow. I honestly don’t even know where to start with this one. First off—this is a debut?? That alone truly impressive.

"The Bright Years" follows three POVs across more than 50 years, weaving together a rich story of character development, family dynamics, trauma, & healing. Damoff does an incredible job showing the complexities of people—their light & dark, strengths & flaws. She really leans into the idea that people can’t be easily labeled as “good” or “bad.” They’re messy, layered, & real.

I’ve been sitting here staring at the screen, trying to find the right words...but I can’t. So instead, here’s a list. If you like any of these, this book might be for you:

- Multiple POVs
- Generational family drama
- Human complexity
- Short, quick chapters
- A story that spans decades

Even though I gave it 5 stars, that doesn't mean it was flawless. Ironically, it’s the imperfections that made it feel *even more* like a 5-star read for me, given the theme of the book.

The one thing that tripped me up a bit was the passage of time—it sometimes moved so fast I didn’t know *when* I was. For example, we spend a lot of time in Lillian’s POV, and I had such a strong mental image of Jet as a five-year-old that when we shifted to Jet’s own POV as a teen and then an adult, I kept having to recalibrate. And when the third POV was introduced toward the end, I wasn’t sure it landed with the emotional weight it was aiming for. It offered character insight and some closure, but it felt rushed and didn’t quite hit as hard as I expected.

Still, none of that took away from how powerful this book was. The layered characters, emotional depth…..it all left a big impact on me. It’s the kind of book that lingers.

One last note: definitely check the trigger warnings before diving in. This is a heavy read with some intense themes, so go in prepared.

I cannot thank Simon & Schuster enough for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

I haven’t cried through a book this much in a looooong time. When sifting through my pile of unread books, I picked this up on a whim since I figured it would be a nice break from the thrillers and romance I was reading. Instead I was EMOTIONALLY WRECKED (in the best way). The Bright Years follows the family of Lillian and Ryan Bright, from their meeting to marriage to daughter and the little things in between. Unfortunately alcoholism has taken hold of Ryan’s life to the point where he leaves Lillian and Jet, his daughter, in hopes that this will protect them from him. We watch Lillian raise Jet on her own, with the help of Ryan’s mom Elise and her neighbor bff Shauna and her son Kendi. The first half of the book is Lillian’s perspective, most of the second half is Jet’s, and it ends with a short section from Ryan’s point of view. I loved all of the characters and their development.

What really pulled me in was Sarah Damoff’s writing — it felt captivating and emotional and lyrical in a way that really stood out to me. I couldn’t put the story down, but was so sad when it came to an end. This is going to be one of my favorite books of the year and absolutely one of the biggest surprises. Highly recommend to everyone!! 5 well-deserved stars for this debut!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

What a debut novel by Sarah Damoff. So much to unpack in this novel…friendship, loss, hope, resilience and always love. Not a light read, but there are many light moments, so beautifully written. These characters (Lillian, Ryan, Jet and Elise) will crawl into your heart and stay there. I found them totally relatable, dealing with real struggles. The ending broke me. Such a heartfelt look at loving someone with addiction. Both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I highly recommend. I’ll be looking forward to Ms. Damoff’s next novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book examines the impact of addiction and secrets on three generations of one family. We follow Ryan and Lillian Bright and their daughter Georgette as they navigate through years of hurt, disappointment, and love for one another in the midst of many challenges. While I’m grateful that Damoff used her background in social work to write about how addiction in particular can burn such a swath of pain through generations, and yet how it does not leave people broken and beyond repair, this largely did not work for me. While I’m glad she gave everyone their full humanity and shows grace to her characters, this book was a bit too sweet and wrapped up too neatly for me. (I am also a veteran social worker.) The characters were all deep down just a little too “good“ and I did not see the permanent and very real damage that occurs in most families who suffer through these kinds of traumas, even though they too, still lead full lives, and experience the love and joy love of friends and family. The writing vacillated to me between being cliché and then in parts, very beautiful, and I did mark several lines. I also enjoyed Georgette’s section of the book much more than those of her parents. I think for many people this will work really well, and in fact has! But while many parts worked for me, more did not.

Absolutely wonderful with humor and pain; full of life lessons…5 plus stars!
Intriguing book from the first pages. This book grabbed hold of me in the first pages and would not let go. If you like well-written, moving narrative, you must read this book. Cast of characters is real, hurting and dare you to listen to them. So good! Told in three parts following main characters: Lillian, Ryan and their daughter Jet. Swirling around them are many other people whose lives touched on them and vice versa.
This fantastic book opens in 1958 with the boy Ryan and his mother dealing with an abusive father and husband, Barton Brighton. Then the book transports us to the moment the man Ryan meets Lillian in the library in 1979. The reader will get glimpses of events that occurred before through well-marked flashbacks. This book is one that must be savored and reflected on. I shall not forget it for a long while. Be prepared for the ending. I literally sobbed. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through NetGalley and it comes highly recommended.

This was a stunning, honest story about the ebbs and flows of life, love and the complexity of family. Throughout the pages, my heart was filled and shattered again and again. As someone who has dealt with tremendous losses over the years, I truly connected with the feelings of despair, fear and loneliness that comes with saying goodbye and working through grief. I loved that this story was told from the perspective of the main characters; Lillian, Georgette and Ryan. This allowed readers to gain a deeper insight into their lives and become emotionally invested. Even when I was frustrated with their choices, I was continually rooting for them. A beautifully-written, emotional and poignant debut!

An absolute heartbreaker. The author takes us through addiction and its effects on family in such a profound way. But be warned - you will openly weep at this one. It’s moving, the characters are well-developed and there’s so much hope and love and mercy shown throughout the novel. One of my top reads of the year, and a solid pick if you enjoy an emotional read.

4.5 stars. What an excellent debut novel! This is an emotional, heartfelt story of a Texas family through the years as they deal with love, grief, loss, dysfunction, addiction and redemption that should bring tears to a reader’s eyes more than once. It is beautifully written and definitely more than just a novel: it is a piece of literature. I definitely look forward to future works by this author.

𝒫𝓊𝒷 𝒲𝑒𝑒𝓀 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌!

This will be on my Best Books of
2025 list.
➡️QOTD: What’s one of your favorite titles of 2025?

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨
by @sarahdamoff
288 pages
@simonbooks
Out Now!

📖What It’s About:

A multigenerational portrait of a couple keeping secrets from one another: Ryan is an alcoholic and Lillian had a son she gave away for adoption. These secrets spill out as they prepare for their daughter Georgette “Jet’s” birth. These revelations have inevitable fallout, and their family must navigate the aftermath with the support of family and found family. The novel is told from the three unique point of views of Ryan, Lillian and Jet throughout every part of their lives.

Read this if you like

🧑‍🧑‍🧒 realistic contemporary family dramas
❤️‍🩹 characters dealing with trauma and addiction
💞 stories about authentic complicated relationships and found family
❤️ redemption stories

🤔My Thoughts

This was beautifully structured so that each character told his or her story in their own voice so we could feel every emotion as they contemplated life, secrets and their connections to one another - this built my empathy for Lillian, Ryan and Jet. I couldn’t help but have love for each narrator despite the circumstances. Addiction is not easy on the person who is suffering nor their loved ones.
I felt it was an authentic portrait of how a family must deal with their secrets and how complicated life becomes when they reveal themselves.
Aptly titled, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 showed me how love can shine brightly enough to overcome any obstacle.
This was a very emotional read and I loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#bestbooksof2025

Thank you to the tagged author, publisher, @kraysbookclub @downtogetthefictionon @notyomamasbookclub #notyomamasbookclub for the opportunity to read and own this gorgeous book. I will be sharing this as a must read to friends and family. I think it has so many important messages for all of us.

Four generations, wanting to heal, they have times when life is wonderful, then times when it is a struggle. Ryan and Lillian Bright love each other, have a baby girl, and Lillian hasn't told her husband a secret. When the secret comes out, there are repercussions, and the struggles have taken a toll on them. It doesn't just affect them, with their daughter, Georgette, we see the impact on her life. They struggle to get it right, but there are setbacks, but they don't give up trying. Ryan has become an alcoholic, and he struggles to quit drinking. This is a story that goes below the surface and shows us what is really going on. You can't change the past, you find a way to live with it, and try to do better in the future.
I received an ARC from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley.

The toll of alcoholism is examined as a young couple navigate marriage and Parenthood. There is a lot of heartache and a few surprises in the telling of each generation's experiences. Difficult choices are made and secrets are kept. A solid read with an easy attachment to the characters, especially the mothers. As a strong debut, this is a writer to watch.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

This was an excellent debut novel by Sarah Damoff. The Bright Years is a story of love, heartbreak, loss and learning to love again.

It was a story packed with a lot of emotion and drama. It was told in three narratives and each chapter outlines a stretch of years. You had an overview of these character's lives which truly hit home in the last parts of the novel.

I loved the characters and felt for all of them as they try to make the choices needed to move forward in life.

I am certain that most people knows someone with alcoholism, This is what makes this book so relatable, and written beautifully.

THis is definitely one of the best books of 2025. I truly enjoyed it.

It’s hard to believe The Bright Years is a debut novel. Sarah Damoff writes with the kind of emotional precision and quiet power that usually comes with time.
This is a novel about what we inherit: the unspoken things, the ache beneath the surface, the stories we carry without knowing their weight. It traces the shape of generational trauma with tenderness and honesty, revealing how shame and silence echo through the years until someone finally says, “enough.”
Parts of this story were tough to read because of the weight carried by its topics: miscarriage, adoption, alcoholism, and the secrets that surround them. Damoff doesn’t shy away from the raw, uncomfortable truths, and there’s an emotional nakedness in how the characters’ pain is laid bare. Still, I couldn’t put it down. I felt tethered to these characters almost immediately and I wanted more time with them. If anything, I wish the book had been 80 or so pages longer, just to let the ending settle with the same care as the rest.
Still, this one left a mark. I’ll be watching closely for what Damoff writes next, and I’ll be first in line when she does.

This novel is a well-written emotional family drama taking place over decades about, Lillian, Ryan, and their daughter Jet. It’s about love, loss, addiction, friendship, second chances, and more.

This book had so many sad moments that at one point I started worrying every scene would end in tragedy, but it truly did grab my heart and thankfully ended with a little hope. And it was especially impressive that this book was a debut novel - look forward to seeing what Sarah Damoff writes next.

4.25 stars

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, for this ARC.

The Bright Years follows Lillian, Ryan, and their daughter Georgette (Jet) on a journey of love, addiction, and loss. It tackles topics like alcoholism, grief, adoption, and ultimately redemption.

This story was beautifully told from all three different points of view at different times in their lives. The characters are thorough and vivid, they are deeply flawed in their own ways and all the more real for this reason.

Emotional. If you read this book, be prepared for it to touch every emotion. A family is torn apart by their weaknesses, yet melded together by their love for each other. To understand them is to hurt for them. Told over a period of decades, three members of the family paint a picture of both sides of a family's differences. This may be a debut, but it's definitely a book to be read, shared and savored over and over.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Bright Years is Sarah Damoff debut novel about four generations of one Texan family. Their story is told over sixty-one years, from 1958 through 2019. It is a story about a little boy, Ryan, that spent many a night coloring night skies on the underbelly of the kitchen table while his parent fought .. violently.

In 1970, Lillan and Ryan meet, each hiding their own little secret but there is that immediate attraction. When they become the Bright family with a little daughter, Georgette, Ryan promises to himself to not be like his father and to be good to these two women in his life. But life got in the way and soon Ryan will fall into the same destructive pattern of alcoholism as his father.

Lilly (Lillian) harbors her own dark secret, a son she gave up for adoption. Ryan and Jet (Georgette) are her second chance at the family she always wanted but instead she watches the man she loves fall deeper and deeper into alcoholism with no desire to get better.

Jet is mostly raised by her grandmother Nana Elise, Ryan’s mother. While she deeply loves both her parents, she also resents them for the secrets they kept from her.

The Bright Years while very well written, it is dark raw story of six decades of family heartbreak dealing with miscarriage, domestic violence, alcoholism, adoption, death of a parent, grief, depression, eating disorder yet ends on a somewhat happier note of love and compassion coming through.

Thank you, Sarah Damoff, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was released on April 22, 2025.

Thank you @SarahDamoff and @simonbooks for the beautiful copy of the book. #simonbooksbuddy All opinions expressed are my own.

“The Bright Years” by Sarah Damoff is a deeply emotional family saga that spans four generations, told through the eyes of a mother, father, and daughter. Lillian and Ryan Bright are madly in love—until secrets and addiction start to fracture their foundation. Their daughter Georgette grows up caught in the storm, and when a hidden piece of her family's past resurfaces years later, she's forced to confront everything she’s tried to leave behind.

This debut is raw, layered, and packed with real, messy emotion. It explores the ripple effects of addiction, abandonment, and forgiveness with honesty and care. Every chapter brings a new wave of empathy as you watch the Bright family struggle, stumble, and slowly heal. The storytelling is intimate and powerful, weaving timelines and POVs in a way that keeps you invested from start to finish. A standout debut that doesn’t shy away from hard truths—and one that absolutely earns a spot on your bookshelf.

This is definitely going to be an unpopular opinion, but this was just an average read for me. This is a multigenerational family drama told in different POV's over the span of a couple of decades. We follow Lillian and Ryan's love story which includes them both having secrets and baggage. It touches heavily on alcoholism and all the trauma associated with that, which I can't relate to, so it wasn't as impactful as it might be for others. We get the ups and downs of navigating relationships, wanting to accept someone even when they make poor choices, regret & death of a loved one. There are some really good parts in this book, it is just really depressing. Might have just been the wrong time for me to read this or I may have liked it more if I had an audiobook for it.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, & Deanna Sarah Damoff for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. #NetGalley #TheBrightYears