It's been almost 10 years since the publication of Kayla Rae Whitaker's excellent debut, THE ANIMATORS, a novel about artistic collaboration in the animation industry. But clearly she hasn't lost her interest in exploring relationships and how they're complicated by working together, as these themes also are at the heart of her sophomore novel, RETURNS AND EXCHANGES. 

However, the focus here is not on creative industries but on commerce, pure and simple. It’s about the kind of regional discount store chain that flourished for a short time in the 20th century --- think Shopko, Bradlees or Mervyn's. It's no coincidence that the book is set in the late 1970s and ’80s, at a time when many such chains flourished. The store at the center of the story is family-owned, Louisville-based Baker-Taylor's, which is run by Fran (née Baker) Taylor and her husband, Fred, and overseen by a board that includes Fran's sister and the family lawyer, among other investors.

"RETURNS AND EXCHANGES is a thoroughly engrossing novel that demonstrates both the heady thrill of a family succeeding together and the ugly inverse when a family business starts to drive a family apart."

Fran and Fred grew up poor but escaped their small-town upbringing. As the novel begins, they're on the verge of achieving a kind of life that their childhood selves never could have envisioned. They acquire another regional chain and rebrand their stores as Baker-Taylor's, thereby expanding their geographic footprint beyond the Southeast and into the Rust Belt states. 

For Fred, success is about material trappings --- driving the latest car, owning a large and well-appointed home, being invited to join the right clubs (or, in his case, secret societies). He is the smiling, charismatic face of the business, but behind the scenes, Fran is running the show. For her, success is all about security and making good decisions, and she has a much stronger understanding of the business's underpinnings than Fred ever has. Fran is also the one overseeing the expansion, but her single-minded devotion to the business grows more complicated when she starts to develop feelings for another woman, a rising-star cashier at one of Baker-Taylor's original stores. 

Fran's relationship with Wendy begins to highlight other chinks in her marriage, which become outright rifts over the next several years. She resents the way that Fred belittles her in the boardroom, calling her "Mommy" in front of senior staff and board members. They also have drastically different approaches to parenting their four children. The oldest two remember what life was like before their family's success, and the younger two are largely left to their own devices while their parents try to manage the rapidly burgeoning business. 

In some ways, RETURNS AND EXCHANGES reads like three separate novellas. It opens with a long section introducing characters and turning attention to the relationship between Fred and Fran and the expansion of their business. In the middle section, the focus shifts to the two older brothers --- Josiah, who is under pressure to take over the business someday but has no desire to do so, and Sam, an artist who struggles with mental illness and bristles over Fred's seeming lack of empathy. Finally, the perspective moves to the younger siblings: Benny, a talented businessman in his own right who desires his father's approval, and Birdie, the only girl and a gifted athlete. Both are struggling to come into their own just as their family --- and potentially the business --- is falling apart. 

The close third-person narration means that readers feel like they're gaining deep insights into the thoughts and feelings of the select characters at the center of each section while also gathering clues about what's happening with others. These shifts in perspective help keep the point of view fresh and even surprising, as readers constantly view characters in new ways and learn more about them over time. 

Big societal issues also loom over the family power dynamics. The 1980s setting means that Fran and Wendy's relationship makes them the target of hateful words and actions, and Fred is able to leverage an outsized amount of power in comparison with his wife. And any reader who remembers the fate of so many real-life discount stores like Baker-Taylor's will see the writing on the wall when a massive national chain called “The Beast” begins to make inroads into the market. 

RETURNS AND EXCHANGES is a thoroughly engrossing novel that demonstrates both the heady thrill of a family succeeding together and the ugly inverse when a family business starts to drive a family apart.