Books About Family Businesses

Books About Family Businesses

This article relates to Returns and Exchanges

Family businesses provide fruitful ground for writers. The interpersonal dynamics at play are uniquely high-stakes, and there's a lot of room for things to go fascinatingly wrong. Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker focuses on a family that owns a chain of discount stores. Here are five other books that use fact and fiction to explore what happens when family and business mix:

One & Only by Maurene Goo
For centuries, the women of the Park family have made their living by peering into people's past lives and finding their soulmate. But at nearly 40, daughter Cassia has yet to find her own fated love. When an unexpected man enters the picture, she's led down a path that will reveal family secrets.

Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen
Jessica Tran has never wanted to join the family business, a Toronto nail salon that's given the Trans a comfortable life. But when an ultra-fancy chain salon moves in across the street at the same time their landlord hikes the rent, Jessica must step in to help her family save the business.

Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging by Rachel Phan
This memoir recounts the author's upbringing as the daughter of immigrant restaurant owners. The restaurant was her parents' dream, but to Rachel it felt like another family member—and an incredibly demanding one at that. As her parents begin to discuss retirement, it's a chance for Rachel to get to know them away from the pressures of running the business.

The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For by Cameron Reed
In this sci-fi novella, a mega-corporation has an interesting succession plan: each CEO adopts a younger woman, who gestates and raises the CEO's clone. Upon adulthood, the clone will take over the company. The protagonist of this book is one of these young women—but she's been unable to carry a pregnancy. As the book opens, she's preparing to be formally unadopted after her adoptive mother has found someone to take her place.

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
What happens when a family firm becomes wildly successful—and incredibly immoral? This nonfiction book tells the story of the family behind Purdue Pharmaceuticals and their role in the American opioid crisis.

Across a variety of genres, stories about family businesses have the ability to be either heartwarming or heartbreaking. It's likely that this topic will continue to yield fascinating reads.

Filed under Reading Lists

This article relates to Returns and Exchanges. It first ran in the May 20, 2026 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.