Greta has been a listener all her life, so when she arrives in Hudson - a one horse town as packed with gossip as it is honeybees (60,000 of them to be precise) - what better place to start her search for work than with the town's six shrinks? Within weeks, secrets are pouring directly into Greta's ears as she begins working for Om, a sex and relationship coach, and soon Greta knows the residents of her local community intimately. One particular client fascinates her. FEW (all clients are initials only) is 28, Swiss, a gynaecologist, married but has never had an orgasm. Greta even gives her the name 'Big Swiss'. And when Greta realises the elegant, slender 'white asparagus' lady she is talking with in the dog park one day is in fact Big Swiss herself, an unlikely - and not entirely honest - relationship is born. One which transforms both of their lives. This absolute joy of a book is full of the brilliant weirdness hidden from view in so many of our seemingly everyday lives - although thank goodness unlike Big Swiss ours aren't transcribed for everyone to read.
About the Author
Big Swiss is Jen's third novel. Pretend I'm Dead and Vacuum in the Dark (shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize) were published by Scribner US and Oneworld in the UK to wide critical acclaim. Jen Beagin holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine. In 2017, she was awarded a prestigious Whiting Award for her debut novel Pretend I'm Dead. She lives in New York.