Far and Away by Amy Poeppel

FAR AND AWAY by Amy Poeppel is a very clever, fun read even though the situation seems quite implausible at first… who gets drunk (or almost drunk) and agrees to an international house swap without a pretty thorough vetting? Well, readers should let that go and just enjoy the antics of the many characters in this delightful commentary on family life, motherhood, and marriage as well as the cultural differences between the United States (especially Dallas) and Germany (Berlin). The house swap is agreed between Greta (art curator, wife to an underappreciated German scientist named Otto, and mother to Emmi, about to head off to an internship in New York and then to college) and Lucy, (interior designer, wife to Max, a NASA scientist temporarily incommunicado, and mother to high school senior Jack and 8-year old twins Alice and Zoe). The cast would not be complete, though, without the in-laws, neighbors, and co-workers, all of whom contribute to misunderstandings in this “comedy of errors” where “it means there can be more than one version of the same story.” FAR AND AWAY is a truly heart-warming tale that will have readers looking for more titles by Amy Poeppel. An amusing and charming summer read! 

One note: I am glad that I read the preview as an eBook and could easily translate German phrases (e.g., So schnell wie möglich, bitte or Du machst keinen Sinn) even though the author gives context clues. In a recent interview Poeppel explained her choice of locales: “This was a chance for me to write a little love letter to Dallas and to Berlin… to just express some of the things that I love the most about both places and what I miss the most ...”