Following her 'dazzling' (The Guardian) debut, The Animators, Kayla Rae Whitaker tells the sweeping story of one Southern family's rise and fall throughout the 1980s, a tragicomic tour de force about love and marriage, parents and children, and the promise and limitations of the American Dream.
Baker-Taylor's is a family business. Fran (née Baker) and Fred Taylor run a successful chain of discount retail stores in Kentucky and they're cautiously expanding: Ataris and Hot Wheels, new branches and new management. With four healthy children and financial stability their own parents could have only dreamed of, Fred and Fran are the American dream: rags to riches, a family dynasty built on years of hard work and long hours. Underneath the surface, however, the business is changing at a breakneck pace, and each family member is struggling to keep up.
Money is transforming Fred, and the extremes to which he will go to fit in with the high society crowd are embarrassing, if not downright dangerous. Oldest son Josiah wants nothing to do with the family business, Sam is seeing things that might not really be there, and Benny and Birdie are growing up with a fraction of the parenting that their older brothers did. Meanwhile, Fran, her family's stable core, is falling for Wendy, a cashier at Baker- Taylor's, risking everything along the way.
While trying to maintain the facade of a perfect success story, Fred and Fran discover that in matters of love and money, once it's gone, it's gone - no returns, no exchanges.
| ISBN: | 9781917189026 |
| Publication date: | 18th June 2026 |
| Author: | Kayla Rae Whitaker |
| Publisher: | Scribe UK an imprint of Scribe Publications Pty Ltd |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 432 pages |
| Genres: |
Sagas Modern and Contemporary Fiction Narrative theme: Social issues Historical Fiction |
Following her 'dazzling' (The Guardian) debut, The Animators, Kayla Rae Whitaker tells the sweeping story of one Southern family's rise and fall throughout the 1980s, a tragicomic tour de force about love and marriage, parents and children, and the promise and limitations of the American Dream.
Baker-Taylor's is a family business. Fran (née Baker) and Fred Taylor run a successful chain of discount retail stores in Kentucky and they're cautiously expanding: Ataris and Hot Wheels, new branches and new management. With four healthy children and financial stability their own parents could have only dreamed of, Fred and Fran are the American dream: rags to riches, a family dynasty built on years of hard work and long hours. Underneath the surface, however, the business is changing at a breakneck pace, and each family member is struggling to keep up.
Money is transforming Fred, and the extremes to which he will go to fit in with the high society crowd are embarrassing, if not downright dangerous. Oldest son Josiah wants nothing to do with the family business, Sam is seeing things that might not really be there, and Benny and Birdie are growing up with a fraction of the parenting that their older brothers did. Meanwhile, Fran, her family's stable core, is falling for Wendy, a cashier at Baker- Taylor's, risking everything along the way.
While trying to maintain the facade of a perfect success story, Fred and Fran discover that in matters of love and money, once it's gone, it's gone - no returns, no exchanges.
Returns and Exchanges features in the following genres: Sagas, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Narrative theme: Social issues, Historical Fiction
Returns and Exchanges is available in Hardback
Returns and Exchanges was written by Kayla Rae Whitaker and published by Scribe UK an imprint of Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
Returns and Exchanges has 432 pages
£17.09