Jen Beagin is the Whiting Award winning author of Pretend I’m Dead and the sequel Vacuum in the Dark. I had read and loved the dark humor and candor of the latter and am excited to report that her newest is even better.

With Big Swiss, Beagin ventures into a new character and setting, where a California transplant named Greta finds herself in the dichotomous Hudson New York, known for its quirky artists as well as its newer gentrified populace.

Her sardonic writing voice is certainly her signature and here she brandishes the comedy in Greta’s ‘profession’ as a transcriptionist for a sex therapist named Om. Her interjections to the inappropriate responses Om sometimes elicits, make for great belly laughs. I enjoyed learning some spicy Spanish lingo as well as the nuances of raising miniature donkeys and bee keeping.

And while some of that certainly sounds silly, Beagin is sage enough to weave in complicated relationships and back stories to make this 300 plus page book breeze by. Big Swiss is perfect for both its levity and its depth and is available for pre-order at www.sarasoatbooks.com and in store at BookStore1 117 S. Pineapple Ave. beginning on February 7th, 2023.

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin Publication Date 2/7/23 ISBN #9781982153083.