Big in Sweden

Trade Paperback

The most hilarious and unforgettable feel-good escape of 2024!

'Full of quick insight and charming detail . . . absolutely packed with one-liners. Sally Franson is a brilliant comic writer' KATHERINE HEINY, author of Games and Rituals

'A flat out delight . . . I laughed out loud, I ugly cried, and I never, ever wanted it to end' MEG RYAN

I would go to Sweden and everything would be different. I'd be surrounded by tens of hundreds of Alexander Skarsgards. They'd put flower crowns in my hair . . . carry IKEA furniture instead of guns . . . go to museums instead of football games, wear interesting shoes . . .

Paulie Johansson is lost: on the brink of midlife, all she's got to show for herself is a dead-end job and some serious family baggage. Maybe that's why, drunk and sure it's a fool's errand, she agrees to audition for Sverige och Mig, a Swedish reality show where Americans compete to win an unusual prize - a reunion with long-lost Scandinavian family.

To everyone's surprise (and her boyfriend Declan's disapproval) Paulie makes the final cast, dropping everything to jump on a plane to Sweden - armed only with a copy of Pippi Longstocking and a sense of possibility.

At first, it seems clear she has nothing in common with her fellow American contestants. But amid increasingly absurd challenges and on-camera meltdowns, followed at all times by a distractingly handsome Swedish cameraman, Paulie finds herself rethinking everything she thought she knew about her country, her family, and herself.

Sometimes you have to leave it all behind, to find what you've always been looking for . . .

More than just a hilarious fish-out-of-water tale, Big in Sweden is a love story: love for family, friends, country, and - most importantly - oneself.

'What a great, fun, witty summer read. You don't want to miss this one!'

'Super cute book with a main character that will steal your heart'

Praise for Sally Franson

'A wry, observant take' New York Post

'Reading this hilarious, heartfelt book was even more fun than watching reality television. I absolutely loved it!' Jessica Anya Blau

'Wickedly funny' Bustle

'Imagine Ancestry.com meeting the Great British Bake-Off . . . with ABBA and karaoke. Big in Sweden is a very funny novel about the families we inherit and the ones we ultimately create for ourselves' Julie Schumacher