Big in Sweden

Out now from Mariner Books

A charming, wise, and laugh-out-loud funny novel following an American woman competing on a Swedish reality show in an attempt to discover her roots.

“Swedish pancakes, Viking villages, evangelical relay races: Sally Franson’s hilariously cantankerous cast of Crying Americans vie for the chance to discover their Nordic roots in this raucous, big-hearted book. 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, bestselling and Thurber Prize–winning author of the Dear Committee Trilogy

“Big in Sweden is full of quick insight and charming detail, and absolutely packed with one-liners. Sally Franson is a brilliant comic writer—and one with a deep love for all her characters. It’s a dazzling combination.”

—Katherine Heiny, author of Games and Rituals

“If you devoured Pippi Longstocking as a kid, you will not be able to turn away from Big in Sweden. Reading this hilarious, heartfelt book was even more fun than watching reality television. I absolutely loved it!”

—Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane

“Sally Franson is a world-class entertainer. She can finesse a seriocomic moment in a way that leaves you catching your breath. Deft and delicious, this book is a flat-out delight machine. A heart opener, a page turner, and a true originell! I laughed out loud, I ugly cried, and I never, ever wanted it to end.”

—Meg Ryan, actor, writer, and director

Paulie Johansson has never put much stock in the idea of family: she has her long-term boyfriend Declan and beloved best friend Jemma, and that’s more than enough for her. Yet one night on a lark, she lets Jemma convince her to audition for Sverige och Mig, a show on Swedish television where Swedish-Americans compete to win the ultimate prize: a reunion with their Swedish relatives. Much to her shock, her drunken submission video wins her a spot on the show, and against Declan’s advice Paulie decides to go for it.

Armed with her Polaroid camera, a beat-up copy of Pippi Longstocking, and an unquenchable sense of possibility, Paulie hops on a plane to Sweden and launches into the contest with seven other Americans, all under the watchful eye of a camera crew. At first, Paulie is certain that she and her competitors have nothing in common besides their passports and views their bloodthirsty ambitions with suspicion. Yet amid the increasingly absurd challenges—rowing from Denmark to Sweden in the freezing rain, battling through obstacle courses, competing in a pickled herring eating contest—Paulie finds herself rethinking her snap judgments about her fellow countrymen, while her growing attachment to her Swedish roots increases her resolve to win the competition herself.

Grappling with long-held notions of family, friendship, and love—not to mention her feelings for the distractingly handsome Swedish cameraman who’s been assigned to follow her around—Paulie starts to reconsider her past and rethink what she wants for the future. A fish-out-of-water tale filled with warmth, optimism, and wit, Big in Sweden is at its heart a love story: love for family, friends, country, and—most importantly—oneself. 

Press

“Filled with apt metaphors and zingy one-liners… Franson is skilled at mixing slapstick with serious. There are pratfalls and belches, fisticuffs and stolen kisses and so much drinking. But at the same time, [the] desire for a family connection is deep-seated and moving.”

—The Star Tribune

“A clever summer read… a chatty rom-com romp… Think Henry James, with jokes and pop culture. [The novel] brims with positively every single interesting thing in our present moment.”

—Mpls St Paul Magazine

“A charming, wise, and laugh-out-loud funny novel… Big in Sweden gives readers a reason to celebrate and feel gratitude for their own families be they chosen or through DNA.

—BookTrib

“Funny, heartfelt and as enjoyably quirky as its main character, “Big in Sweden” is a terrific summer read.”

—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette