Far Away is Something Else

A gruff Berliner and a small-town northern German with a penchant for yoga and handicrafts. Other than a mutually felt aversion, Edith Scholz and Christel Jacobi have nothing in common – and yet, the two 70-year-olds take off on an adventure that will wind up taking them all the way through Germany.

Widow Edith Scholz is convinced that »being free means being able to be alone« and seems quite happy in her rented flat in Berlin with her cigarettes and occasional glass of schnapps. But then a fall turns everything upside down – Frau Scholz has to go to physical therapy on the Baltic Sea, which could actually be quite relaxing if only it weren’t for Christel Jacobi, her far-too-friendly, esoteric roommate. »We old widows, we got to stick together,« she says, overwhelming grumpy Frau Scholz with friendliness…but, in the end, she manages to win her over. For critically ill Christel Jacobi no longer wants to give in to her family’s will, but hopes to have one last adventure before it’s too late.

And so the two ladies head off on one last trip from the Baltic all the way down to Baden-Baden, drinking Prosecco at breakfast, browsing through art galleries, trying out their luck in casinos, buying Dior sunglasses in expensive shops and flirting with true gentlemen – while all the while Christel Jacob grows steadily sicker. Sarah Schmidt writes in a clear, unsentimental, refreshing and serious way. A clever, funny and touching book about friendship in old age and last chances.