3 novels for fans of rich family dramas like The White Lotus
Toronto columnist Alicia Cox Thomson joins Antonio Michael Downing on The Next Chapter
There's something about a classic wealthy family drama that draws viewers in time and time again. Shows like HBO's The White Lotus and Apple TV's Succession have everything that columnist Alicia Cox Thomson loves to watch, from messy family dynamics to hidden inheritances and high-stakes.
"It almost gives us license to judge, to be a little catty. People love gossip, it's a human compulsion, right? And so when the people that we're talking about have a little more than we do it just adds a little snark," said Thomson.
Thomson is a Toronto writer and regular columnist on The Next Chapter. She set out to find and recommend novels that matched this theme of the ultra rich family thriller, but this time featuring families of colour.
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
"[Wilkerson] really masterfully weaves all of these things together and a story about identity and healing and family trauma as well," said Thomson.
Raised in a wealthy New England neighbourhood as the daughter of one of the only Black families, Ebby Freeman knows what it's like to have the eyes of high society turned on her. Good Dirt tells the story of the Freemans: of the son they lost years ago to gun violence, and the stoneware jar kept in their family for generations and once owned by an enslaved ancestor.
When Ebby is left at the altar years later, she runs off to France to avoid public scrutiny and ends up uncovering more of her family's past that may come to help build her future.
Charmaine Wilkerson is a Jamaican American writer best known for her novel Black Cake which was adapted as a Hulu series. She previously worked as a journalist and is now based in Italy.
The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhelecha
"There's an underlying family tragedy that I won't spoil that is also informing these siblings and their parents, a tragedy they don't speak about, but it taints them all and they need to figure that out. There's a lot going on, but it's a very traditional kind of thriller," said Thomson.
The Inheritance follows the Agarwals, an affluent family from New Delhi who reunite on a family trip to a Scottish island. Raj, the patriarch is a successful businessman and his wife Shalini are joined by their three grown children: Myra, Aseem and Aisha and some of their partners. Between the son and heir, golden daughter and wild child youngest daughter all three of the siblings have ulterior motives to this trip.
When the stakes are higher than ever, family secrets are sure to boil to the surface.
Trisha Sakhlecha is an Indian writer and diplomat based between Berlin and London. She is the current Director of the Tagore Centre at the Embassy of India. The Inheritance is her first novel.
The Wedding by Gurjinder Basran
"Their cultures aren't the driving force of the plots, they just really underpin and enrich these stories like I really love hearing about all the food and all of the rituals in the wedding," said Thomson.
In a Bollywood-inspired family drama, The Wedding transports readers to Surrey and Vancouver, B.C. in the lead-up to the lavish Sikh wedding between Devi and Baby. Offering glimpses into the lives of the wedding party, guests and the event staff making it all happen, the novel is all about community, tradition and the union of two people.
Gurjinder Basran is a writer living in Delta, B.C. Her novels include Everything Was Good-bye, the winner of the BC Book Prize and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, Help! I'm Alive and Someone You Love is Gone.
Alicia Cox Thomson's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
