Sally Franson

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Maxwell Collyard

A close-up of Sally Franson.

Sally Franson

Former Madisonian (and once-upon-a-time Isthmus contributor) Sally Franson returns to her old stamping grounds to read from her latest novel, Big in Sweden. Based on what really happened when Franson tried out for a Swedish reality TV show, the novel centers on Sverige och Mig, a show where Swedish-Americans compete to win a reunion with their Swedish relatives. Hilarity does, in fact, ensue. A meet and greet begins at 5 p.m. and the reading starts at 6 p.m. Franson now lives in Minneapolis; she is also the author of A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out. Tickets, which are required, are available at kismetbooks.com.

media release:  5:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Meet and Greet with Sally Franson! 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM: Reading and Signing!

A few years ago, Sally Franson was working on her second novel, but she felt stuck and uninspired. When an opportunity to try out for a Swedish genealogical TV show arose, she decided to take a break from the stalled novel and give it a shot, figuring nothing would come of it. But not only was she cast on the show — Sweden’s most popular program — she WON. Her dazzling and hilarious second novel, BIG IN SWEDEN (Mariner Books; on sale July 2, 2024; $28.00, 320 pages; ISBN 978-0-06-331274-6), springs from this once-in-a-lifetime experience, following an American woman on the brink of midlife competing in a Swedish reality show to discover her roots and figure out how to make a family.

Paulie Johansson has never put much stock in the idea of family: she has her long-term boyfriend Declan and beloved best friend Jemma, and that’s more than enough for her. Yet one night on a lark, she lets Jemma convince her to audition for Sverige och Mig, a show on Swedish television where Swedish-Americans compete to win the ultimate prize: a reunion with their Swedish relatives. Much to her shock, her drunken submission video wins her a spot on the show, and against Declan’s advice Paulie decides to go for it.

Armed with her Polaroid camera, a beat-up copy of Pippi Longstocking, and an unquenchable sense of possibility, Paulie hops on a plane to Sweden and launches into the contest with seven other Americans, all under the watchful eye of a camera crew. At first, Paulie is certain that she and her competitors have nothing in common besides their passports and views their bloodthirsty ambitions with suspicion. Yet amid the increasingly absurd challenges—rowing from Denmark to Sweden in the freezing rain, battling through obstacle courses, competing in a pickled herring eating contest—Paulie finds herself rethinking her snap judgments about her fellow countrymen, while her growing attachment to her Swedish roots increases her resolve to win the competition herself.

Grappling with long-held notions of family, friendship, and love—not to mention her feelings for the distractingly handsome Swedish cameraman who’s been assigned to follow her around—Paulie starts to reconsider her past and rethink what she wants for the future. A fish-out-of-water tale filled with warmth, optimism, and wit, BIG IN SWEDEN is at its heart a love story: love for family, friends, country, and—most importantly—oneself.

In writing BIG IN SWEDEN, Franson thought it was “very important, now more than ever, given all the stress / anxiety / isolation of these times to take love and comedy and laughter deadly seriously, and to do everything in my power as an artist to create a space for joy.”

Sally Franson is the author of A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, The Best American Travel Writing, and on NPR, among other places. In 2022, she was a cast member of Allt för Sverige, a Swedish reality TV show about finding your roots. She lives in Minneapolis with her family.