Big Swiss follows a middle-aged woman named Greta who overturns her entire life to move away to a small town. It is here she finds a job as a transcriber for the town’s sex therapist. Greta becomes enthralled by the town’s sex stories, even if their identities are hidden.
In particular, she becomes obsessed with a woman who she likes to call Big Swiss. But when Greta ends up meeting Big Swiss in a local dog park, a surprising relationship is established.
This poignant novel has taken the literary world by storm. If you’ve recently finished Big Swiss, then these books are great options for your next read!
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10 Books Similar to Big Swiss
Cleopatra and Frankenstein, by Coco Mellors
Cleopatra and Frankenstein is a wonderful book that explores the complexities of relationships that begin in an unusual way.
This novel explores the marriage between two unlikely people across numerous years and how that one impulsive decision impacts their lives in a way neither of them could have predicted.
When Cleo is offered a marriage of convenience by twenty-years-older Frank, she accepts. Her student visa is ending and she doesn’t want to return to England. Frank offers her a life to make herself a success in the art world as she always dreamed.
As with all relationships, the pair must make sacrifices and support one another as each challenge threatens to topple them both.
Boy Parts, by Eliza Clark
Things aren’t looking great for Irina when she is put on sabbatical from her job working behind a bar. But then she is scouted for her art and is offered a place at a London exhibition gallery that could finally bring her art career back to life.
Irina takes to the streets to find average-looking men who would be willing to pose for her portfolio of explicit photos. She takes this opportunity as a last-ditch attempt to remake her career and herself, away from the drugs and alcohol-fuelled lifestyle she led before.
Pick up Boy Parts for a book where our protagonist attempts to upheave her life. A story about gender roles and sexuality in the modern age, this is a gripping read for all types of readers.
A Certain Hunger, by Chelsea G Summers
Dorothy Daniels is a very intelligent and incredible food critic. Both good at what she does as well as a clear master of cookery herself, she is renowned in the industry.
Dorothy loves sex as much as she loves food but has never found a partner who could keep up with her. Dorothy talks us through her life, from her farm-life childhood to the moment she killed a man and served him up on her own plate.
A satiric story about gender and feminism, readers who love a thriller will devour A Certain Hunger for its exploration of the connection we have with ourselves and others.
Milk Fed, by Melissa Broder
In Milk Fed, Rachel is a twenty-four-year-old woman who counts calories and her steps like it is her religion.
Working at a talent management agency in the day and sweating all night on her elliptical machine, she is at a total burnout until her therapist recommends cutting contact with her calorie-counting mother who raised her this way.
Then Rachel meets Miriam who works at her favourite fro-yo shop and is determined to feed her. From here, a life-changing relationship evolves. This queer contemporary romance is perfect for fans of Big Swiss.
The Guest, by Emma Cline
If you liked Big Swiss, then The Guest by Emma Cline – bestselling author of The Girls – is sure to be your next five-star read!
Alex has a case of ever-changing identities when she decides to spend her summer on Long Island. Originally, she stays with an older man in his beautiful home but when she makes a slight misstep, he sends her away with a train ticket home to the city.
But Alex doesn’t want to leave so in an attempt to stay on Long Island and make the summer of her dreams, she goes from home to home each with a new identity.
Leaving devastation in her wake, Alex hops around in the week leading up to Labor Day and hopes that when the time comes, the man who first sent her away will welcome her back with open arms.
All’s Well, by Mona Awad
Miranda’s acting career ended the moment she had an accident that left her with chronic back pain. Now a college theatre director with a failed marriage and wholly dependent on her painkillers, she’s suddenly faced with losing her job too.
Determined to put on an incredible play, she is faced with a cast who want to put a different play on instead. Then three ominous benefactors show up and promise her a future where everything goes to plan… these people know about her past and promise her the future.
Pick up All’s Well for an original and extraordinary book.
The Rachel Incident, by Caroline O’Donoghue
When Rachel Murray meets her new co-worker, James Devlin, when working at a bookshop whilst at university, the pair soon become best friends and move into an apartment together.
Their peers all speculate over James’ sexuality but he never confirms, causing lots of people to think he is gay. When Rachel gets a crush on her married professor, the two set up a reading at the bookstore for his book in an attempt to reel him in and seduce him.
The events following this reading will change their lives forever and complicate them in a way they never expected.
If you like books that highlight the importance of friendships and relationships whilst feeling like a personal, touching account of events, The Rachel Incident is perfect for you.
Brutes, by Dizz Tate
Brutes, a coming-of-age story about girlhood, is perfect for fans of Big Swiss. This novel follows a gang of thirteen-year-old girls who obsessively follow the older Sammy – the local preacher’s daughter.
Set in Falls Landing in Florida, a fame-hungry town consisting of lakes, swamps, glittering theme parks and colourful flowers that litter the pavements, there is something darker at play in a seemingly peaceful town.
So, when Sammy suddenly goes missing, no one knows how to find her and the girls watch from a distance as the dark secrets of their town will emerge.
What they will see will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jaqueline Harpman
I Who Have Never Known Men is a dystopian, poignant, otherworldly book that considers the relationship we have with ourselves and others. Underground, there is a cage with forty women inside guarded by armed men whose silence suffocates the cell.
As the youngest of the women, our protagonist doesn’t remember the crimes she committed, if there were any at all. Then suddenly, she is gifted with freedom.
But for someone who has only known a life behind bars and shackles, our protagonist must live a life she doesn’t know how to lead. To become a person, she never thought she could be.
Someone who is free.
Pretend I’m Dead, by Jen Beagin
Pretend I’m Dead is a book about twenty-three-year-old Mona who cleans houses to get by. She hands out clean needles to drug addicts and despite everything, falls for a man she names Mr Disgusting who proceeds to break her heart.
In an attempt to heal, she moves to Taos for a fresh start and meets a group of people who, in turn, will all have a lesson to teach Mona.
The more she learns, the memories of her childhood growing up in a destructive family bob to the surface and Mona finds herself trying to leave her past behind and move forward for good.
Books like Big Swiss all explore the complexities of being human and the relationships with establish with one another and also, the relationship we have with ourselves. Whether tender and heartbreaking or simply hilariously entertaining, the books on this list will have something for everyone.
Are you looking for more books to read after Big Swiss? Have any recommendations that didn’t make the list? Let us know in the comments!
