Big in Sweden by Sally Franson
Sally Franson debuted as a novelist in 2018 with the attention-grabbing A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out, a Minnesota Book Award finalist that is currently in film development with Meg Ryan set to direct. Thus, it’s not unreasonable to expect her latest novel Big in Sweden to receive similar accolades and it does not disappoint! It’s a seriocomic, heartfelt, wildly entertaining book about Pauline “Paulie” Johannson, a Minneapolis woman with ancestral roots in Sweden.
On a lark, she submits a drunken audition video to Sverige och Mig, a popular Swedish public television show, and is shocked to receive an invitation to be a contestant. The grand prize for the winner is a family reunion with previously unknown old-country relatives located by professional genealogists employed by the program. The participants’ airfare, lodging, transportation and most meals are provided as well as a per diem for vacation days between filming. It’s an opportunity to vacation in the Land of the Midnight Sun during Midsummer festivities that provides each entrant a lifetime of interesting anecdotes about their brief time as a Swedish television star as well as embarrassing and enduring YouTube clips.
A Drunken Audition Leads to Sweden
Paulie is the blond, blue-eyed intrepid narrator who at six feet tall is literally Big in Sweden. She needs a break after four years of employment at Premiere Prep coaching and coaxing arrogant, overprivileged underachieving high school students to improve their grades and test scores. The tutors attempt to satisfy parents’ Ivy League aspirations with progeny whose capability to qualify for a community college is questionable. Paulie is 35 years old and at a crossroads in her three-year exclusive relationship with Declan. He is considerate, learning to cook and shares housework but their outlooks differ, and the spark has dimmed.
Declan is adamantly opposed to her participation in what he considers to be a harebrained, “exploitative”, “manipulative” television show. They have been together so long and are compatible in many ways. Should she consider pushing for marriage or break-up? Paulie doesn’t feel commitment phobic, but her boyfriend and forever best friend celebrity dog groomer Jemma are her only two friends. Unity has not been the Johannson’s strong suit as they personify the “dys” in dysfunctional family.
Her Swedish grandmother, Farmor (father’s mother) was her anchor supplying unconditional love along with great baking skills at an early age but died when Paulie was eleven. The same year, her Lutheran pastor father came out of his closet and moved from Minneapolis to Sante Fe with Mr. L., her piano teacher. Not only did her dad abandon his wife and two daughters, but he reneged on his child support, then died suddenly when she was sixteen without reconciliation. Her mother survived a suicide attempt and was hospitalized for depression several times. Her older sister was busy gazing at the sun daily while living in a cult. Her friend Jemma’s family took her in until she graduated from high school.
The Contest Begins
It made for the sort of drama Sverige och Mig preferred for their contestants but wasn’t healthy for Paulie who quite understandably put little faith in the notions of importance of family as hers had failed her miserably her entire life. Paulie embarked on her great adventure armed for inspiration with her favorite book from childhood, Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking.
Sverige och Mig, literally “Sweden and Me”is a reality show that pits eight American participants against each other in a milder, family history variation of Survivor. The audience of middle-aged and older television viewers have nicknamed the show “the crying Americans” for their watery emotional outbursts as they compete in the “games”, explore their family origin stories, and openly share their darkest secrets. The more reserved, stoic (although voyeuristic) Swedes made this a successful and highly anticipated long-running summer series. The competitions are often absurdly silly; some, such as obstacle courses are physically challenging while others test memorization skills. All are designed to elicit laughter and produce favorite contestants among the viewers.
Adventures and Bonding
Shortly after Paulie’s arrival and assembly with the others, the filming begins with a miserable first day of competition. Instead of driving across a bridge and through a short tunnel, the group is required to row across the narrow strait from Denmark to Sweden. Filming and navigating were hampered by freezing rain and getting lost in dense fog. Upon reaching the Swedish shore, the disgruntled, tired and hungry contestants were expected to plop down in a nearby flowerbed, dig into the topsoil and enthusiastically declaim their excitement about “coming home”. It was a bit of a stretch. Traveling to the Arctic Circle to visit the nomadic Sámi and their reindeer herds, a visit to a coal mining town in decline and then Ingmar Bergman’s summer island was more interesting. A herring eating contest might have been the nadir.
One contestant is eliminated after each episode and immediately sent home with bags already packed and the return flight booked. The small crew of producers and cameramen filmed one episode every three days followed by breaks in Stockholm. As cell phones and social media were banned for the duration of the contest, the contestants were rarely in touch with families and friends in the USA. The Americans vary in age, temperament, backgrounds and have little in common aside from their native-born US citizenship and Swedish heritage. They travel long distances together with the small crew in a van, squabbling much like grumpy siblings who clamor for snacks and rest stops when not stunned into silence by the beauty of the scenery.
As the number of contestants dwindles, the remaining few — with Paulie as ringleader — coalesce as comrades in arms. Sharing meals and copious amounts of alcohol along with getting thrown out of the ABBA Museum served to create genuine bonding experiences. They remained competitive but a spirit of fair play and a growing sense of chosen family cause them to deviate from the producers’ instructions.
A Novel Worth Celebrating
Big in Sweden gives readers a reason to celebrate and feel gratitude for their own families be they chosen or through DNA. The tall, blond, blue-eyed Minnesotan author Sally Franson has stated in an interview that the novel was inspired by her own experiences as a “Z-list Nordic reality show star.” In 2021, she spent five weeks in Sweden as a contestant on the long-running Swedish Emmy Award-winning reality show Allt för Sverige (Everything for Sweden), marketed in the US as The Great Swedish Adventure. Much to her surprise, she won! Her five weeks were equally memorable although greatly divergent from the fictional Paulie Johannson’s experiences.
Sally Franson is a Barnard College alumna and an MFA from the University of Minnesota with a long list of awards and honors as well as publication credits. She also teaches creative writing at Macalester College. One may hope a third novel will be forthcoming soon. Big in Sweden is fresh, original and a complete delight!
About Sally Franson:
Sally Franson is the author of the novel A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out and Big in Sweden. Meg Ryan is currently developing a screen adaptation of A Lady’s Guide with Netflix and Anonymous Content. Sally was a 2022 cast member of Allt för Sverige, a Swedish reality TV show about finding your roots. She lives in Minneapolis.
