Perfect strangers Lucy and Greta have agreed to a house swap—and boy, are they going to regret it.
Lucy’s hometown of Dallas has gone from home sweet home to vicious snake pit in the blink of an eye after her son makes a mistake he can’t undo. And Greta’s beloved flat in Berlin is suddenly up for grabs when her husband Otto takes a dream job in Texas without even telling her. In their rush to leave town, Lucy and Greta make a deal, pack their bags, and—thanks to martinis, desperation, and some very rusty German—have absolutely no idea what they’re getting themselves into.
Trading Southern charm and barbecue for European sophistication and schnitzel, the two women get a lot more than a change of scenery as they move into each other’s houses, neighborhoods, and lives. Greta and Lucy’s husbands are no help: Otto is winning over his colleagues, swimming laps in the backyard pool, and rooting for the Rangers, while Lucy’s husband is doing a six-month stretch out west, either in a NASA biosphere or in jail, depending on who you ask. Meanwhile, Greta’s daughter Emmi and Lucy’s son Jack get tossed into each other’s orbits, where they both discover secrets they can’t ignore.
When Greta’s biggest career achievement—the buzzworthy purchase of a Vermeer at auction—is thrown into question and Lucy’s past with a hot Viking named Bjørn invades her present, the two women need each other in ways they never could have imagined. Through jet lag, culture shock, suspiciously nice neighbors, and scandals that refuse to be left behind, Lucy and Greta will have to decide if they can ever go home again. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)
Allyson Bales:
Say hello to what I KNOW is going to be one of your favorite books of the year!
Thanks to Simon Audio, I got to read this one primarily with my ears and it was such a treat. I think this will definitely be one of my favorite audio books of the year. It is primarily narrated by Patti Murin and Lisa Flanagan with smaller parts by Jennifer Jill Araya, Kevin R. Free, and Pete Simonelli. A multi-cast narration always really brings the story to life for me but what I loved about this one even more were the narrators' Dallas twang and German accents!
Amy Poeppel is becoming a favorite author of mine! I read The Sweet Spot a few years ago and immediately fell in love with her writing style. With this story you get to meet Lucy and Greta. Lucy is dealing with a high school scandal and Greta’s husband Otto is in need of a work change. Both of them decide very impulsively to swap houses and what actually ensues is so much fun! This story was a mix of the movies The Holiday and Love, Actually with characters that have so much personality and quirkiness! I really missed them when I wasn’t reading and couldn’t wait to get back to them as soon as possible!
The story is a lighter read but there are so many storylines intermingling at once, so many laugh out loud and heartfelt moments, and characters that really feel like your best friends, that you are going to be so invested until the very end. I don’t often re-read stories but I already want to re-listen to this and be back together with the characters!
I really don’t want to give too much away but know that you get to visit sweltering Dallas and bustling Berlin, Germany. There’s a spouse that is spending six months in New Mexico but everyone is saying he's on Mars. There’s a math problem that really went awry and a teenager that drives WAY below the speed limit. Like so slow it takes him over six hours for a two-hour trip!
I really could go on and on about this one! Please go read it and then reach out to me! I would love to talk about it more!
Melissa Amster:
I have enjoyed Amy Poeppel's novels ever since I checked out Limelight in 2018 (reviewed here). That was a top pick for me at the time. I'm pleased to share that another one of her novels has earned a spot on my top picks list this year: Far and Away. It's like The Holiday, but about parenthood and only slightly more chaotic. 😂 I loved every bit of it, including the quirky characters, armchair adventure, humor, and pets, just to name a few things. Of course, the synopsis had me at "Viking named Bjørn" because of Ghosts.
Greta seemed to have it slightly easier, but she walked into a messy situation...and house, not knowing what to expect. Her husband was living the dream in Texas and she was just trying to get by. I could understand how awkward she felt at times, and how homesick she truly was. I liked seeing her communication with Lucy and how they started to understand each other's situations after a while.
I loved all the narrative from the variety of characters and seeing them in so many locations throughout the story. I was picturing one of those toy planes going back and forth on a map. I have never been to Berlin, but Amy made it easy to picture everything there. There was so much livelihood throughout the story and I never knew what to expect from one chapter to the next. I wanted to live inside the book even longer!
It would have been nice to have translations for everything that was just written in German. Some context was available here and there, but if I were watching this as a movie and the subtitles were missing, I'd be totally confused.
I'm excited for everyone to read this soon, so I can enjoy it again vicariously through them. (I'm re-enjoying it just by writing this review.) It's such a refreshing and creative novel and I'm glad I got the opportunity to check it out!
(Trigger warning at the bottom of this post.)
Lucy: Rachael Leigh Cook
Greta: Diane Kruger
Jack: Finn Wolfhard
Emmi: Lilly Krug
Irene: Caroline Lagerfelt
Adam: Dan Jeannotte
Otto: Til Schweiger (which is funny when you read the book...)
Thanks to Atria for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have one copy for a lucky reader!
How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.
Listen to this book on Speechify!
TW: Bullying
7 comments:
I'd love to do a house swap in a small English village
I would love to live in Paris.
Not sure I would want to swap houses - I'd be too worried about property damage.
London. My dream city. I've been dreaming abou living there since I was a child.
Anywhere hot and sunny and on the beach. The more remote the better!
Lisbon, Portugal
A tranquil, peaceful beach. A beach house right on the beach.
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