Celeste Leahy feels stuck in midlife: working a dead-end job, co-parenting a teenage son, and caring for a mother with dementia. When her estranged brother appears on her doorstep intent on reconnecting, she's forced to examine her choices. Reid, now a famous poet, has built his life and career, Celeste believes, at her expense. The heart of their rift goes back decades, to a violent act that took place while they were college students protesting the Vietnam War.

Now, as Reid insinuates himself into her day-to-day, Celeste must make peace not only with her brother, but also with her younger self, reliving and, finally, accepting the past and how it shaped her present. With poetic language and a strong sense of place, Burn Down This World illuminates the ways a fractured family can mend, if not heal, old wounds.