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Set in the boho-chic town of Hudson, N.Y., Jen Beagin’s laughter-inducing Big Swiss centers on a sex therapist’s transcriptionist, a 45-year-old California transplant named Greta. The novel follows the adrift Greta as she begins to fantasize about a 28-year-old patient who she lovingly names Big Swiss—ostensibly because she’s from Switzerland and, well, she’s tall. As Greta works her way through transcribing Big Swiss’s sessions with the therapist, she learns that her crush, whose real name is Flavia, was brutally assaulted years ago and the attacker has recently been released from prison. Also, Flavia has never had an orgasm. Enamored with the idea of the woman on the tapes, Greta finally meets her in a dog park, and a torrid affair ensues. Sexy and darkly funny, at its core this novel turns preconceived notions about mental health, obsession, and trauma upside down. —Rachel Sonis
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