10 Dramatic Books To Read If You're Missing 'Succession'

“Life’s not a knight on horseback. It’s a number on a piece of paper. It’s a fight for a knife in the mud.”

Have you watched Succession? In four short seasons, the HBO series has cemented itself as one of the best television shows. The show follows the Roy family, the owners of a global media conglomerate, Waystar RoyCo, as they go through changes after the fearsome patriarch Logan Roy falls ill. His four children, Kendall, Roman, Shiv, and Connor are fighting for a piece of the empire – and their father’s love. It’s a darkly comic yet brutal study of privilege, power, capitalism, and familial trauma in a biting, meme-worthy corporate drama.

The show ended its run this year and I’m already missing it! While I don’t often read books about rich people, this topic is a goldmine for drama. Succession is inspired by classics like The Godfather and King Lear, but there is plenty of other books that explore complex family dynasties and the seductive promises of wealth.

Check out the books below and enjoy!

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The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

On a wintry afternoon in New York City, Melody, Beatrice and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, who has just been released from rehab. Leo’s bad behaviour, culminating in a car crash while under the influence has endangered the Plumbs’ joint trust fund, or “the Nest”. The four siblings believe that this money will solve a host of self-inflicted problems and their consequences. And until Leo’s accident, they’d been mere months away from receiving it.

The Nest explores what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of our lives, and the fraught but unbreakable ties we have with our families.

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel

Labor Day, 1976, Martha’s Vineyard. Summering at the family beach house along this moneyed coast of New England, Fern and Edgar are happily preparing for a family birthday celebration when they learn that the unimaginable has occurred: There is no more money.

The money in the estate of Fern’s recently deceased parents is the sole source of Fern and Edgar’s income and had allowed them to live this comfortable life. Quickly, the family unravels. In distress and confusion, Fern and Edgar are each tempted away on separate adventures, leaving their children behind. Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty is a story of American wealth, class, family, and mobility.

Trust by Hernan Diaz

Everyone in 1920s New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they have risen to the very top of a world of seemingly endless wealth. But at what cost have they acquired their immense fortune?

At once an immersive story and a brilliant literary puzzle, TRUST engages the reader in a quest for the truth while confronting the deceptions that live at the heart of personal relationships, the reality-warping force of capital, and the ease with which power can manipulate facts.

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the curb and in the blink of an eye, five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all, just a shell-shocked servant.

In the shadow of lavish estates, predatory business deals, and calculated political influence, three lives become dangerously intertwined. Ajay is the watchful servant who rises through the family’s ranks. Sunny is the playboy heir who dreams of outshining his father. And Neda is the curious journalist caught between morality and desire. Age of Vice is an epic story propelled by the seductive wealth, startling corruption, and bloodthirsty violence of the Wadia family.

Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier

Lyla has always believed that life is a game she is destined to win, but her husband, Graham, takes the game to dangerous levels. The wealthy couple invites self-made success stories to live in their guesthouse and then conspires to ruin their lives.

Demi has always felt like the odds were stacked against her. She seizes a risky opportunity to take over another person’s life and unwittingly becomes the subject of the upstairs couple’s wicked entertainment. But Demi has been struggling all her life, and she’s not about to go down without a fight. The game quickly devolves into chaos and rockets toward an explosive conclusion.

The Heirs by Susan Rieger

Six months after Rupert Falkes dies, leaving a grieving widow and five adult sons, an unknown woman sues his estate, claiming she had two sons by him. The Falkes brothers are pitched into turmoil, at once missing their father and feeling betrayed by him.

In disconcerting contrast, their mother, Eleanor, is cool and calm, showing preternatural composure. The brothers see their identity and success as inextricably tied to family loyalty. Struggling to reclaim their identity, the brothers find Eleanor’s sympathy toward the woman and her sons confounding. The brothers begin to question whether they knew either of their parents at all.

The Darlings by Cristina Alger

Now that he’s married to Merrill Darling, daughter of billionaire financier Carter Darling, attorney Paul Ross has grown accustomed to New York society and all of its luxuries. When Paul loses his job, Carter offers him the chance to head the legal team at his hedge fund. Thrilled with his good fortune in the midst of the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression, Paul accepts the position.

But Paul’s luck is about to shift. A tragic event catapults the Darling family into the media spotlight, a regulatory investigation, and a red-hot scandal. Suddenly, Paul must decide where his loyalties lie.

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbed, he rushes to be by her bedside—but he’s not alone. The entire Shang-Young clan has convened from all corners of the globe to stake claim to their matriarch’s massive fortune. With each family member vying to inherit Tyersall Park—a trophy estate on sixty-four prime acres in the heart of Singapore—Nicholas’ childhood home turns into a hotbed of backbiting and intrigue.

This sweeping tale takes us from the elegantly appointed mansions of Manila to the secluded private islands in the Sulu Sea, with a family driven by fortune.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Tyrant, blackmailer, racketeer, murderer – his influence reaches every level of American society. Meet Don Corleone, a friendly man, a just man, a reasonable man. The deadliest lord of the Cosa Nostra. The Godfather.

A modern masterpiece, The Godfather is a searing portrayal of the 1940s criminal underworld. It is also the intimate story of the Corleone family, at once drawn together and ripped apart by its unique position at the core of the American Mafia.

King Lear by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s bleak and brutal tragedy begins when an aging king, seeking a successor, rejects the young daughter who loves him and misplaces his trust in her malevolent sisters. In return, they strip him of his power and condemn him to a wretched wasteland of horror and insanity.

Set in a pitiless universe, King Lear is a towering, elemental masterpiece of fierce poetry and vast imaginative scope.

Comment below if you have recommendations for books like Succession!