The Sweet-Shop Owner is the debut novel of English author Graham Swift.

It was published in 1980 to largely favourable reviews.

[1] The book is set on a sunny Friday in June 1974 and describes the routine of what turns out to be the last day in the life of Willy Chapman, the eponymous owner of a South London sweet shop.

[2][3] Central to the book is his relationship with his beautiful and yet distant wife Irene who bore him a daughter on the unspoken agreement that no love would be expressed between them.

[4] Interspersed with flashbacks to his earlier life, Willy attempts to justify himself to his estranged unforgiving daughter Dorry via an internal monologue.