10 Of The Best Books If You Loved Succession

---

“You look tired and your face is giving me a headache.”

---

If you’re a fan of Succession, you know the thrill of watching power, wealth, and family drama collide in the most ruthless of ways. From cutthroat corporate politics to the tense dynamics of a billionaire family, Succession hooks viewers with its dark humour, morally grey characters, and sharp satire of ambition and greed. But what if you want that same intensity in book form? We’ve compiled a list of the best books like Succession – novels that capture tension, intrigue, and high-stakes drama of dynastic families and corporate enemies. Whether you’re looking for stories about dysfunctional families, power struggles, or wealth and betrayal, these picks will keep you turning pages just like you binge-watch episodes. From contemporary literary fiction, darkly comedic tales of ambition and corruption, these books are perfect for anyone looking for books similar to Succession or wanting to dive into family sagas filled with intrigue. 

---

Empire Falls – Richard Russo

First up on our list of books like Succession is Richard Russo’s acclaimed work, Empire Falls. Welcome to Empire Falls, a blue-collar town full of abandoned mills whose citizens surround themselves with the comforts and feuds provided by lifelong friends and neighbours, and who find humour and hope in the most unlikely and unexpected places. 

Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for twenty years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? Could it be his daughter, Tick? Or perhaps it’s Janine, his soon-to-be-ex-wife, who’s taken up with a noxiously vain health-club proprietor. Or maybe it’s Francine Whiting, who owns everything in the town – and seems to believe “everything” includes Miles himself. In Empire Falls, Russo delves into the blue-collar heart of America in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache and grace. 

The House Of Mirth – Edith Wharton

Lily Bart, beautiful, witty and sophisticated, is accepted by ‘old money’ and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears thirty, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing and to maintain her in the luxury she has come to expect. Whilst many have sought her, something – fastidiousness or integrity – prevents her from making a ‘suitable match’. 

First published all the way back in 1905, The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, showcasing the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities. 

The Interestings – Meg Wolitzer

The summer that Nixon resigned, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts became inseparable. Decades on, their bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In her book similar to Succession, Meg Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge. 

Wide in scope, ambitious, and complete with a cast of characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt preciptously over the span of a friendship and a life. 

The Firm – John Grisham

Mitch McDeere is a young, intelligent, and ambitious lawyer. When he gets a job with a top tax law firm in Memphis, he is delighted. But he soon becomes suspicious after mysterious deaths, obsessive office security, and the Chicago mob figures into its operations. The situation only escalates from there when Mitch discovers that the firm is listening in on his phone calls, and that the FBI want to speak to him. Money and power have a price – and it could just be Mitch’s life. 

We Were The Mulvaneys – Joyce Carol Oates

The Mulvaneys of High Point Farm in Mt. Ephraim, New York, are a large and fortunate clan, blessed with good looks, abundant charisma, and boundless promise. But over the twenty-five-year span of this ambitious book, similar to Succession, the Mulvaneys will slide, almost imperceptibly at first, from the pinnacle of happiness, transformed by the vagaries of fate into a scattered collection of lost and lonely souls. 

It is the youngest son, Judd, now an adult, who attempts to piece together the fragments of the Mulvaneys’ former glory, looking to uncover and understand the secret violation that occasioned the family’s tragic downfall. Each of the Mulvaneys endures some form of exile, but, in the end, they find a way to bridge the chasms that have opened up among them, reuniting in the spirit of love and healing. 

Money – Martin Amis

If you’re looking for a book that delivers the same ruthless blend of ambition, greed, and dark humour as Succession, Money by Martin Amis is a great go-to. The novel follows John Self, a morally compromised, self-indulgent advertising executive navigating the excesses of 1980s London and New York.

Packed with sharp satire, corporate decadence, and biting commentary on wealth and power, Money explores the dark side of human ambition and the destructive impact of privilege. Fans of Succession will recognise the themes of corporate intrigue, family dysfunction, and morally grey characters pursuing wealth, no matter the cost. Amis’ razor-sharp wit and unflinching look at decadence make this book a compelling read for anyone looking for novels about power struggles, greed, and elite social circles. 

Trust – Hernan Diaz

Even through the roar of the 1920s, everyone in New York had 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 – all as a decade of excess and speculation draws to an end. But, at what cost have they acquired their vast fortune?

At once an immersive story and a brilliant literary puzzle perfect for anyone who loved the wealth, manipulation, and family secrets in Succession, Trust engages readers in a quest for the truth, while confronting the deceptions that often live at the heart of personal relationships, the reality-warping force of capital, and the ease with which power can manipulate reality. 

Bright, Precious Days – Jay McInerney

Russell and Corrine Calloway seem to be living the New York dream. But all of this comes with a high cost. Russell, an independent publisher, has cultural clout but minimal cash; as he navigates an industry that requires, beyond astute literary taste, constant financial improvisation, he encounters an audacious, expensive, and potentially ruinous opportunity. Meanwhile, instead of seeking personal profit, Corrine is devoted to feeding the hungry poor, and they soon learn they’re being priced out of their now fashionable neighbourhood. 

Then Corrine’s world is upended when the man with whom she had an ill-fated affair in the wake of 9/11 suddenly reappears. As the novel unfolds across a period of stupendous change – including Obama’s historic election and the global economic collapse he inherited – the Calloways will find themselves and their marriage tested more severely than they ever could have imagined. 

The Luminaries – Eleanor Catton

It is 1866, and young Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On the stormy night of his arrival, he happens upon a tense gathering of twelve local men who have met in secret to discuss a series of unexplained events: a wealthy man has vanished, a prostitute has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. 

Moody is soon pulled into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely ornate as the night sky. Richly evoking a mid-nineteenth-century world of shipping, banking, and gold rush boom and bust, The Luminaries is a brilliantly constructed, fiendishly clever ghost story and gripping page-turner, perfect for anyone who loved Succession. 

The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt

Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise rips his whole world apart. Alone in New York, he is taken in by an affluent family of a wealthy friend. An unbearable longing for his mother follows him, and he spends the next years holding onto the thing that reminds him the most of her: a strangely captivating painting that ultimately hauls him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide from the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty antique store where he works. He is alienated and in love – and his talisman, the painting, soon places him at the heart of a dangerous web. 

Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch is a haunting odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Blending unforgettably charismatic characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph – an epic story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, and of the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and fate.