Paulie Johannson is a lovable hot mess. She’s 35, going through the motions at an unrewarding job as a college admissions coach in Minneapolis, wondering if her sweet but slightly dull computer programmer boyfriend Declan is “the one,” and nearly resigned to the fact that an exciting career as a successful photographer is beyond her reach.
Then she gets a call from a Swedish television producer: The application she impulsively sent in to participate in a reality show has been approved. Before Paulie can say “en två tre,” she’s en route to the homeland of her ancestors, a worn copy of “Pippi Longstocking” clutched in her hands, open to whatever adventure awaits her.
It’s the 10th anniversary season of “Severige och Mig” (”Sweden and Me,” also known as ”Crying Americans” to the legions of loyal Swedish viewers). Eight American contestants will vie for opportunities to learn about their Swedish heritage, completing ridiculous challenges and bonding with their fellow castmates.
Paulie’s competitors include Deborah Messing (the Other One) – a 60-ish lesbian who runs a vineyard in Sonoma County; Kevin Axelsson, a ”wellness expert” who can’t stop talking about his podcast; Tom Holm, a former meatpacker from Milwaukee who says his hobbies are ”beer”; and Honor Berg, a D.C. bureaucrat with ”the kind of student council president energy you might expect from someone living and working inside the Beltway, though not in a bad way.”
The contestants are joined by the crew: Inga the production assistant, Anna the showrunner, and Tocke, the executive producer, an imposing, gruff Viking. There’s Magnus and Jonas (sound guy and cameraman, respectively) and Lars, the segment producer whose ”jaw was so chiseled you could slice a lemon on it.” Paulie is immediately smitten, hard-pressed to remember she’s in a committed relationship to a good person.
You don’t have to have seen a lot of reality shows to know that the contestants squabble, don Viking costumes, eat pickled herring and share moments of profundity within rapid succession. Despite her initial impression that the whole thing is a lark and her castmates unrelatable, Paulie finds herself getting drawn in. She can’t help developing feelings for everyone AND she wants to win the competition.
What would Pippi do? Author Sally Franson keeps the tone light and just shy of over the top. Paulie is silly and self-absorbed but also human and a work in progress. “Big in Sweden” is a hoot.
Author Franson was herself a contestant on the 10th season of “Allt för Sverige” (“The Great Swedish Adventure”) on which she claims “Big in Sweden” is only loosely based. See if you can figure out which character in her novel represents Franson’s real-life castmate Melody Sky Weaver, the director of the Port Townsend Library. Franson will be speaking in Port Townsend in March as the featured author of their 2025 Community Read.
Christine Perkins is executive director of the Whatcom County Library System, wcls.org.
