Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and SimonBooksBuddy, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Bright Years in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Simon Books / Simon & Schuster ALC
Published: April 22, 2025
Summary:
One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga perfect for readers of Mary Beth Keane and Claire Lombardo.
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.
Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.
My thoughts:
I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again…the debut game is strong this year! And this book is just the latest example!!! I’m still in shock that this book, a book that completely shattered my heart multiple times and managed to put it together again over and over is this author’s first book…her future, if this book is anything to base it on, is looking very bright!
This book is messy in the best way possible, with characters that are so deeply flawed that you can’t help but root for. No matter how many times they fall down, you want them to get back up. There is heartbreak, heartache and oh so many tears that were shed as I read this one, but what I loved about all this is that I deeply felt the connections between the characters. The way the relationships were built and the issues and problems that came along – it all felt so real and relatable. This could have been my family or someone I knew.
This is a book I know I won’t be forgetting anytime soon!
Audio thoughts:
This book was brilliantly narrated by Ferdelle Capistrano, Joy Osmanski and Lee Osorio…all 3 bringing their A-game to make it such a great listening experience.
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