“I spent a lot of time alone, but I was rarely lonely because I like my own brain.”
Suppose you’ve read Big Swiss by Jen Beagin. In that case, you know that it’s a quirky, darkly humorous novel that centres around the unconventional life of Greta, a forty-five-year-old woman who transcribes therapy sessions for a sex therapist named Om. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a repressed woman, who she dubs Big Swiss. One day, Greta recognises Big Swiss’ voice and the two soon become entangled in each other’s life. But, whilst Big Swiss is unaware how Greta has listened in on all of her most intimate conversations, Greta has never felt more herself with anyone else and will do anything to keep her relationship alive. If you loved Beagin’s viral bestseller, join us today at What We Reading for the best books like Big Swiss that all blend deeply human characters, witty dialogues, complex emotions, dark humour and quirky charm!
The Idiot – Elif Batuman
First up on our list of books like Big Swiss is Elif Batuman’s introspective coming-of-age novel, The Idiot. The story follows Selin, a Harvard freshman who navigates the complexities of language, love and self-discovery. As she attempts to make sense of herself and the world around her, Selin sets out on a complicated and often hilarious relationship with fellow student, Ivan.
Batuman’s sharp prose captures the awkwardness of being young, the messiness of relationships and the confusion of identity. Like Big Swiss, The Idiot makes use of quirky characters who grapple with their mental health, the absurdities of life, and the unconventional paths we take toward understanding who we are and what we want from those around us.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Idiot
Modern Lovers – Emma Straub
Emma Straub’s Modern Lovers follows the intertwined lives of three friends – Zoe, Jane, and their college roommate, Claudia – years after their time together at university. Now in their forties, Zoe and Jane are raising a family together, whilst Claudia is flailing as a single woman with an unfulfilling career.
When Zoe and Jane’s teenage daughter, Ruby, becomes entangled with Claudia’s past, long-buried secrets and unresolved tensions bubble to the surface. The novel explores themes of love, friendship, personal development and the complexities of being an adult. With Straub’s trademark humour and emotional depth, Modern Lovers is similar to Big Swiss in its exploration of the imperfections of its characters’ lives, modern relationships in general and the evolving nature of family dynamics.
Ghosts – Dolly Alderton
Nina Dean has arrived in her early thirties as a growing food writer with great friends and a loving family, plus a new home and neighbourhood behind her. When she meets Max, an enigmatic romantic hero who tells her he will marry her on their first date, everything feels like it is going according to plan.
And a new relationship can’t come soon enough for Nina. Everywhere she looks, she is reminded of how her opportunities are closing and time is passing. Friendships are fading, exes are moving on and there’s no solace to be found in either her family or new surroundings. Dolly Alderton’s debut novel, Ghosts, is a funny and tender take on relationships, family, memory and how we live now, perfect for any fans of Beagin’s story.
The Guest – Emma Cline
Alex is a young woman drifting through life after a turbulent summer spent with a wealthy family. With little money and no clear direction, she soon becomes entangled in the lives of strangers, moving from one temporary stop to the next, always on the hunt for a sense of belonging. As Alex attempts to manipulate her way into the lives of those she meets, her desperation for connection and approval only grows more intense, revealing the loneliness at her core.
The Guest tackles themes of isolation, identity and the complexity of human desire with a sharp focus on the emotional and psychological intricacies within its leading protagonist. Similar to Big Swiss, The Guest examines the messiness of relationships, self-perception and the consequences of seeking validation through others, all with a subtle blend of dark humour and emotional insight.
Milk Fed – Melissa Broder
Rachel is twenty-four, a lapsed Jew who has made calorie restriction her religion. By day, she maintains an illusion of existential control, by way of obsessive food rituals, while working as an underling at a Los Angeles talent management agency. At night, she pedals nowhere on the elliptical machine. Rachel is content to carry on subsisting – until her therapist encourages her to take a ninety-day communication detox from her mother, who raised her in the tradition of calorie counting.
Early in the detox, Rachel meets Miriam, a zaftig Orthodox Jewish woman who works at her frozen yoghurt shop and is intent upon feeding her. Rachel is suddenly and powerfully entranced by Miriam – by her sundaes and her body, her faith and her family – and as the two grow closer, Rachel embarks on a journey marked by mirrors, mysticism, mothers, milk, and honey in this scathingly funny, wildly erotic book similar to Big Swiss.
Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead – Emily R. Austin
Gilda, a twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she’s there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist, Grace.
In between trying to memorise the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish tower in her crumbling apartment, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace’s old friend. She can’t bear to ignore the kindly old woman who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can’t bear to break the bad news. So, she begins impersonating Grace via email.
Really Good, Actually – Monica Heisey
Maggie is fine. She’s doing really well, actually. Sure, she’s broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days, but at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcee.
Now she has time to take up nine hobbies, eat hamburgers at 4 am, and “get back out there” sex-wise. With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor, Merris; her newly-divorced friend, Amy; and her group chat (naturally), Maggie barrels through her first year of single life, intermittently dating, occasionally waking up on the floor, and asking herself tough questions along the way.
The New Me – Halle Butler
Thirty-year-old Millie just can’t pull it together. Misanthropic and morose, she spends her days killing time at a thankless temp job until she can return home to her empty apartment, where she oscillates wildly between self-recrimination and mild delusion, fixating on all the little ways she may change her life. Then she watches TV until she drops off to sleep, and the cycle begins again.
When the possibility of a full-time job offer arises, it seems to bring the better life she’s envisioning – one that involves nicer clothes, fresh produce, maybe even financial independence – within reach. But with it also comes the paralysing realisation, lurking just beneath the surface, of just how hollow that vision has become.
Pizza Girl – Jean Kyoung Frazier
Eighteen years old, pregnant, and working as a pizza delivery girl in suburban Los Angeles, our charmingly dysfunctional heroine is deeply lost and in total denial about it all. She’s grieving the death of her father, avoiding her supportive mother and loving boyfriend, and flagrantly ignoring her future.
Her world is further upended when she becomes obsessed with Jenny, a stay-at-home mother new to the neighbourhood, who comes to depend on weekly deliveries of pickled covered pizzas for her son’s happiness. As one woman looks toward motherhood and the other towards middle age, the relationship between the two begins to blur in strange, complicated, and ultimately heartbreaking ways.
Animal – Lisa Toddeo
Joan has spent a lifetime enduring the cruel acts of men. But when one of them commits a shocking act of violence right in front of her, she flees New York City in search of Alice, the only person alive who can help her make sense of her past. In the sweltering hills above Los Angeles, Joan unravels the horrific event she witnessed as a child – that has haunted her every waking moment – while forging the power to finally strike back.
Another one of the best books like Big Swiss, Animal is the debut novel by Lisa Taddeo. It is a depiction of female rage at its rawest and a visceral exploration of the fallout from a male-dominated society. With writing that scorches and mesmerises, Taddeo illustrates one woman’s exhilarating transformation from prey into predator.
Convenience Store Woman – Sayak Murata
Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen, she begins working at the Hirromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction, and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of the “normal” person perfectly.
Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action. Like Big Swiss, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures we all face to conform, as well as a fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
