The Serra is Burning: A Memoir of Fire, Trauma, and the Search for Healing

The Serra is Burning: A Memoir of Fire, Trauma, and the Search for Healing When the land burns, so does everything you thought you knew about healing. In 2021, American trauma therapist and former journalist Daral Boles left behind a successful practice to join a start-up wellness retreat in the remote Serra da Estrela mountains of Portugal. Real Change Retreat Center promised rest, recovery, and transformation for those suffering from burnout, grief, and emotional exhaustion. But beneath the branding was something messier, more fragile, and more human. As Daral navigates cultural clashes, unexpected friendships, and her own unraveling, a historic wildfire—the longest running in Portuguese history—flares, forcing the retreat’s evacuation and turning the once-idyllic mountainside into a smoldering wasteland. Returning to the United States, Daral is struck by symptoms that defy diagnosis. Desperate for answers, she follows her journalist's instincts and begins to study the impact of wildfires on human health while also investigating the tragic story of climate disruption, economic exploitation, and cultural decline in the beautiful, beleaguered Serra da Estrela, the mountains of the star. Part trauma recovery memoir, part investigative travelogue, and part ecopsychological reflection, The Serra is Burning is a raw and riveting exploration of how personal and ecological devastation intertwine, and how healing often begins in the ashes. Perfect for readers of The Body Keeps the Score, Wild, or Under the Sky We Make, this memoir dares to ask: How do you help others heal when your own world is falling apart? View Less