Big Swiss

LoveReading Says

Greta lives in a small town in upstate New York working as a transcriptionist for a therapist. She is trying her best to get her life back on track when her plans are upended after she hears a voice of one of the therapy sessions she is transcribing. A voice, to be specific, of a woman she has nicknamed Big Swiss because she is stoic, originally from Switzerland, and, she imagines, tall.

But when Greta meets Big Swiss at the local dog park, Greta panics and gives her a fake name. A friendship forms and their relationship blossoms, with Big Swiss (whose name is Flavia) unaware that Greta is privy to her secrets.

At times funny, at other times harrowing, Big Swiss by Jen Beagin is an unconventional love story between Greta and Flavia. But more than that, it also dives into the choppy waters of the lasting effects of trauma, mid-life crises, and how to live your life when your cold old house is infested with bees and barely habitable.

The novel is being developed into a television series by Jodie Cromer, who reportedly will play Big Swiss. 

This is a quirky book, to be sure, but charm abounds in the supporting cast of characters—especially Greta’s housemate Sabine. The dialogue and therapy sessions especially had me laughing at loud, both for the wit and the absurdity of the situation. This novel is chaotic and comical, but also sad. Just like life. 

Reviewed by Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton, a writer and journalist, has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Radio Times, Heat, and many others.
More reviews by Maureen Stapleton

About Big Swiss

NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND CULT FAVORITE Named a Best Book of the Year by the New Yorker, Time, NPR, Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post, NBC News, Lit Hub, theSkimm, Condé Nast Traveler, Town & Country, and more! "One of the funniest books of the last few years" (Los Angeles Times) about a sex therapist's transcriptionist and her affair with one of the patients. Greta lives with her friend Sabine in an ancient Dutch farmhouse in Hudson, New York. The house is unrenovated, uninsulated, and full of bees. Greta spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach who calls himself Om. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a repressed married woman she affectionately refers to as Big Swiss. One day, Greta recognizes Big Swiss's voice in town and they quickly become enmeshed. While Big Swiss is unaware Greta has eavesdropped on her most intimate exchanges, Greta has never been more herself with anyone. Her attraction to Big Swiss overrides her guilt, and she'll do anything to sustain the relationship... "A fantastic, weird-as-hell, super funny novel" (Bustle), Big Swiss is both a love story and a deft examination of infidelity, mental health, sexual stereotypes, and more--from an amazingly talented, singular voice in contemporary fiction.

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