Amy Poeppel's Far and Away is a witty, globe-trotting, and heartwarming novel that pairs humor and drama about unexpected directions life can take. The story centers on two families who serendipitously end up in a house swap situation, one from Dallas and one from Berlin, both in need of escaping chaos. The book occasionally leans on convenient coincidences but it is really such a great light hearted and easy read. I even found myself with a happy tear at the end. Her writing is sharp and charming and energetic. Feels like the making of a perfect Nancy Meyer movie.

Don’t you love a summer read that is thoughtful, humorous and charming? Far and Away delivers on all fronts. Lucy and Greta are complete strangers who agree to swap homes in Dallas and Berlin and the story unfolds through alternating perspectives. Each woman is desperate for a fresh start, but what they find is culture shock, chaos, and a whole lot of personal growth. It’s a great summer read if you’re into second chances, messy decisions, and unexpected friendships.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-watch The Holiday every December
-are craving an escape with heart and humor
-have ever dreamt of leaving it all behind

Many thanks to Atria and NetGalley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Two families swap houses between Berlin and Dallas in an attempt to avoid reality at home. A huge cast of characters is involved but each contributes so much to the story, including the homes. Both funny and heartwarming, I loved this from the very first page!

Sometimes we get what we need and not what we ask for as in the case of the international house swap! Far and Away is a fun and mostly light-hearted novel where two families swap houses and each are faced with culture shock! Berlin and Dallas couldn’t be more different but maybe they can find some common ground to help each other. You will love this fun and entertaining read and will appreciate the connections.

Thank you Simon.audio and Atria books for the gifted copies

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! 4.5 stars overall.

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 ..."
https://www.dmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/2025/05/amy-poeppel-far-and-away-dallas-novel/

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this free copy of "Far and Away."

I absolutely adored this book! The characters were so quirky, wonderful, chaotic, loving, tender, and warm.

In Texas, Lucy's son Jack gets expelled from school right before graduation. In Berlin, Greta's husband Otto gets a position in Dallas and needs a place to stay. So they decide to swap houses. What happens next is messy and hectic and an absolute blast!

While being thoroughly entertaining and funny, author Poeppel explored current themes such as rumors accepted as fact without digging for the truth, the expectations of women in careers and relationships, being confident in yourself and your ability to take risks, and pursuing your dreams.

Right book, right time, tried-and-true author. I read this in one sitting on a flight from the U.S. to Europe for a summer trip. It was the perfect distraction during travel delays — easy to transport myself into the lives of the characters and their problems but not too angsty or heavy. I’ve enjoyed every Amy Poeppel book I’ve read but I think this is my favorite.

This was an outstanding and entertaining read that I finished in a few hours.
A well written story that kept me hooked from the very beginning.
The characters draw you in and keeps you flipping the pages.
The characters were all realistic and very well developed. 
I really enjoyed the writing style. I found myself hooked, turning the pages. 
A great novel.

After personal crises upend their lives, Lucy in Dallas and Greta in Berlin impulsively swap homes and lives, each hoping for a fresh start. But as culture shock, family drama, buried secrets, and unexpected scandals unfold, the women find themselves entangled in more than they bargained for. With absent husbands, rebellious children, and a few lingering flames, Lucy and Greta must rely on each other to navigate the chaos and figure out what home really means.

I hadn’t heard of this author before, but the cover was cute and the description sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a chance and I’m so glad I did!
This story was captivating from the start and really enjoyable to read. I can imagine it working wonderfully as an audiobook, too. It’s a heartfelt tale centered on themes of found family, friendship, and the bonds that truly make a home.
The drama wasn’t too heavy, which I appreciated, and the sense of community and connection was incredibly heartwarming. Everything was wrapped up so nicely, and by the end, it really made me feel like the world is a small place.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!!

Delightful and interesting story! Unexpected circumstances result in Lucy (Dallas, TX) and Greta (Berlin, Germany) to do a last-minute house swap. Lucy’s son, Jack, makes a mistake that totally gets blown out of proportion, causing Lucy to take her kids and leave town for a while. Greta’s surgeon husband, Otto, accepts his dream job in Texas without even talking to her about it first. This original and quirky story was a breath of fresh air after so many books seemingly follow standard plot lines. The characters are delightful and there are strong themes of love, friendship and found family throughout the book. Add to that glimpses into NASA and the art world - super delightful read!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. Highly recommend!

Two women swap houses in Dallas and Berlin at the last minute with minimal communication via Instagram as Lucy knew Greta's sister during a college semester abroad.

Greta and her husband Otto were planning on a one year sabbatical at a New York City hospital that becomes a year in Dallas instead. Their apartment in Berlin will be empty and they need somewhere to live in Dallas. Lucy, her eighteen year old son and eight year old twins are looking for a break for at least the summer while Lucy's husband is on a six month work engagement with NASA.

There are so many fun moments as both families adjust to different cultures and lifestyles and languages. Both families took big chances and will grow, and change, and take a few more big risks in their "new" hometowns. Greta's mother and sister and Lucy's parents are terrific supporting characters.

Thank you Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. #FarAndAway #NetGalley

4.0

Greta and Lucy are complete strangers and both at a crossroads in their lives. Through an Instagram post, they decide to do a house swap. Greta's husband Otto, is taking a dream job in Texas without even consulting his wife first. So they are leaving Berlin and need to find housing right away. Lucy's family is in total turmoil. Her son is set to graduate and head off to MIT when he's caught up in a school scandal and his future is in jeopardy. Lucy is having to deal with all of this on her own since her husband, Mason, is on a NASA mission, possibly on Mars??? So Lucy decided to take her son and twin girls and flee to Berlin. These families are at first unknown to each other, but their lives become totally enmeshed with each other. There are dogs, capers, scandals and secrets that they all must navigate. This was at times humorous and definitely made me chuckle. It was fun seeing how they were all going to work everything out. Definitely a lighter read for the Summer.

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks, @emilybestlerbooks for the #gifted copy. This one is out now, so grab it for your Summer reading

At the start of this novel, Lucy’s son Jack is about to graduate from high school when a misinterpretation of something he’s done leaves him expelled and the anger of their Dallas community raining down on them. Meanwhile in Berlin, Germany, Greta and her husband Otto are preparing to leave for a year in New York when Otto’s sabbatical funding gets cancelled, but he finds another opportunity at a lab in Dallas. One social media post later, and the two swap apartments, with Lucy and her three kids heading to Berlin and Greta and Otto heading to Texas. The hook then covers what happens over the next few months, with some chapters from Jack’s and Greta’s daughter Emmy’s point of view too.

Lots more happens beyond that, but it’s both hard to describe the plot and in some ways beyond the point because it’s at heart a character novel, though a character novel with lots of plot! And I loved it. The characters (including the side characters) are just so charming and there’s a lot of humor and heart, and a sweet farcical aspect reminiscent of Elinor Lipman’s novels. I couldn’t put it down, and I finished with both a smile on my face and tears in my eyes, and what could be better than that?

What starts out as a cute story of mishaps that lead to a house swap turns into a story of family and found family. This story is heartwarming and thoughtful. I loved all of the characters in this book and even though there were a lot of them, they were easy to keep straight and all of the main characters had growth which I liked about the story. The side characters brought a lot to the story and made the ending worth the wait.

If you want to read a story to bring you joy and one that includes a lot of heart, read this story.

This was a solidly enjoyable read—I liked it! The characters were charming, there were a few genuinely funny moments that had me chuckling (not a full cackle, but like, a polite giggle), and the story moved along at a good clip. I was in it.

But.

It was also just… a little too sweet? Like, I don’t need chaos and trauma in every chapter, but this was so perfectly wrapped up I could hear the credits music playing. Every issue got resolved with a meaningful conversation and a smile. No one stayed mad. No one stormed out. No lingering tension. Everyone just healed and communicated and grew as people or whatever. Which is lovely, I guess. But also?? A little suspicious.

I think what it boils down to is that I enjoyed the ride, but the ending felt like it was dipped in sugar and tied with a pink ribbon. And while that’s not bad, it did leave me craving just a little more mess.

File this one under: cozy, heartwarming, and maybe too well-adjusted for me. Thank you to Atria for the free ebook to review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books | Emily Bestler Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful book by Amy Poeppel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

Lucy lives in Dallas with her family, and her world is upended when her son makes a mistake that goes viral. In Berlin, Greta's husband takes a dream job in Texas without even telling her. She puts her flat online for a house swap, and the two women, complete strangers, make a deal. But they get a lot more than they bargained for in the process!

This was such a fun and charming book! It made me smile all the way through, as these two totally different women try to take back some control over their lives. They each get plopped into a culture and home that they are totally unfamiliar with, and still try to keep their home and work lives going. I loved both Lucy and Greta, but there is a cast of characters with sparkling personalities to fill out the book, and two completely different settings and experiences. I laughed out loud more times than I can count - this is the perfect summer road trip book!

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Lucy knows she can do it all (not that she has much of a choice anyway). While her husband is away on Mars (well... he's participating in a Mars simulation in the middle of nowhere with an alarmingly fast growing TikTok fanbase), she has singlehandedly juggled her twins' various classes and sports, coordinated a party to celebrate her eldest's upcoming graduation and admission to MIT, her own job heading the refurbishment of several west coast hotels (while trying not to irritate her bosses any more than she normally does), taking care of six animals, and preparing for a normal Texas summer. However, when her son, Jack, makes a major mistake that seems to turn the whole town of Dallas against them, Lucy does what any good mom would do: she removes her family from the equation.

Greta, on the other hand, has only her husband Otto. Their beloved daughter, Emmi, is preparing to start a prestigious law internship in New York City, and the two are facing a summer with Otto hating his job, and Greta gearing up for her next job as an art dealer. But when Otto decides, singlehandedly, to take a fellowship in Texas for six months, all the work falls on Greta to organize where they're living, what they're doing, and how they're going to get there.

Thus, the house swap.

The two families' lives continue to get more and more intertwined, with hilarious mix-up and miscommunications, shocking secrets, and complex relationships (not to mention quite a bit of international travel!), prepare for the summer where everything goes wrong (but then, eventually, goes right).

FAR AND AWAY is the perfect uplifting summer read, and while I've never read any of Amy Poeppel's work, I'm excited to see what else she's written based on this book!

This book was recommended to me by Annabel Monaghan. I love her writing and figured I would give this book a shot. I haven’t read this author before, but I did enjoy it! It was a funny book at many times, but at other times it was a little slower pace for me. I found the two main characters’ stories funny, but I did like Greta and Otto’s story a bit more. Without giving away Lucy’s whole story, I’ll just say I didn’t find it as believable. However, the book was lighthearted and fun! I’ll give it that.

Charming characters, an international house-swap, and some family drama combine to make 𝗙𝗔𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬 a quirky joy of a summer read.

Amy Poeppel's novel sends a Texan family to Berlin and the Germans to Dallas, and a whole lot of hilarity ensues. But as much as I enjoyed all of the fish-out-of-water fun, this book also cuts deeper, exploring what it means to be a mother, to be a wife and to follow your heart, and the emotional epilogue is perfection. I highly recommend the audiobook - the full cast narration is wonderful, and would be a great pick for a road trip.

Thanks to Simon Audio and Atria Books for the copies to review.

Buckle up as Lucy and Greta swap houses from Berlin to Dallas- complete with built in pets, grandparents and friends. Lucy and her family leave Dallas while her husband is completing a several months long NASA post making him unable to communicate. Greta finds herself detoured in Dallas rather than New York as her husband, Otto stays busy with work. Poeppel’s cast of characters were well developed and truly lovable. I’m grateful for the time I got to spend with them.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.