A review by oliveslittlelibrary_
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Greta is a 45-year-old woman living in the small town of Hudson, NY. She lives a rather isolated life, with her roommate and a hive of bees as her only company. However, she works as a remote transcriber for a sex therapist in town, which is indirectly a way for her to connect to the townspeople and her world at large without stepping too far outside of the confines of her house. But Greta becomes inexplicably fascinated with one of her boss's clients, a 28-year-old European woman whom Greta nicknames Big Swiss. Things become even more real when she ends up unexpectedly meeting Big Swiss in person, and what was initially a one-sided obsession becomes a mutual, all-encompassing affair that will force both women to confront hard truths about themselves and their lives. 

This was an interesting read to say the least. Firstly, the world the author created for these characters was so incredibly niche. Greta's house in Hudson is a completely un-renovated farm house from the 18th century. It is so un-renovated to the point where it is practically decaying around her. She lives without any modern amenities and shares the house with her roommate and friend Sabine--who is also a reclusive, hard-to-pin-down middle-aged woman--and a massive hive of bees. Yes, bees. My jaw was fully dropped after the first chapter of this book because of just how strange the setting was. Hudson, NY is an entirely real place, too, that I have been to a couple of times before. It makes sense that the author herself currently lives in Hudson, as she painted what was, in my mind, a very accurate picture of what it means to live in a small and remote town where "everyone knows everyone." However, an extremely unsettling layer is added to this via the characterization of Greta's house. It quickly becomes clear that she has an entirely different experience in her private life than she does in her public life. These two realities feed into one another in increasingly disturbing ways throughout the book, especially as time passes and the lines between reality and insanity begin to blur for Greta. If there's one thing that's for sure, it's that I can respect the hell out of an author who writes a setting that genuinely makes my skin crawl.  

What was even more interesting is that Beagin uses this distressing setting--and the cast of very strange, unique characters--to parallel the distressing, strange, and unique mind that Greta directly inhabits each day. She is an excellent example of an unreliable narrator. I would not venture as far as to say the characters in this novel are likable, but you do find yourself rooting for them in a way. For me, I just wanted to see Greta get help. She is an extremely troubled character who has suffered through significant traumas and, as a result, relates to people in a very strange and disorganized manner. Reading this book was partially so unsettling because the author did such an incredible job inhabiting a character with this type of mind. Her flaws as a character are ones that you, too feel you are living inside of just by nature of reading this book. The author also goes as far as using different settings and characters to symbolize Greta's mental state, trauma, and the way in which she interacts with others. It is thus a profound reflection on how the maintenance of one's mental health--or lack thereof--can seep into every aspect of their life until their surroundings become a direct reflection of their mind. 

Aside from not finding the characters to be particularly likable, one of the weaker points of the novel was the believability of the relationship between Big Swiss and Greta. I think this is partially due to the fact that neither of them are stable enough to have a real connection with one another, but even so I found it hard to relate to either character's perspective in the story. The circumstances in which it developed were questionable to say the least, but they nevertheless taught one another important lessons about human connection. Because of this, I would have liked to be rooting for their relationship to work out a bit more, but I think I never got too attached because I knew it was doomed from the start. 

Overall, I would recommend this novel for its use of symbolism to represent trauma in an extremely clever way. As previously stated, the author also did an incredible job developing the setting. If you like a read that  thoroughly unsettles you but also contains humorous moments and glimpses of emotional depth, this is for you. If you're looking for a WLW romance, I would recommend looking elsewhere, as queer love and identity is definitely not the centerpiece of the novel. However, if you are interested in looking at the role that complex  trauma plays in human connections, you will be happy with this read. 

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars ⭐️

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