Faraway World

A New York Times Editors’ Choice * One of The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction of 2023 * One of Chicago Public Library’s Favorite Books of the Year * A LitHub Best Book of 2023

From the author of Infinite Country—a New York Times bestseller and a Reese’s Book Club pick—comes a “rich and compelling” (The Washington Post) collection of ten exquisite, award-winning short stories set across the Americas and linked by themes of migration, sacrifice, and moral compromise.

Two Colombian expats meet as strangers on the rainy streets of New York City, both burdened with traumatic pasts. In Cuba, a woman discovers her deceased brother’s bones have been stolen, and the love of her life returns from Ecuador for a one-night visit. A cash-strapped couple hustles in Miami, to life-altering ends.

“If you’re looking for a collection that will touch your heart and make you look at your fellow humans more generously, this one’s a can’t-miss” (Good Housekeeping). Author Patricia Engel is “a wonder” (Lauren Groff) and these intimate and panoramic stories bring to life the liminality of regret, the vibrancy of community, and the epic deeds and quiet moments of love.

Reviews

“Sparkling . . . . What makes Engel’s story collection so rich and compelling is that the Colombian American author places her tales in the context of universal themes: the compromises we make for love, the lies we tell ourselves and others, betrayal, paranoia, grief, joy, acceptance . . . . Engel knows how to draw in readers fast—and keep them . . . . [she] entices you with irresistible opening lines over and over.” —Manuel Roig-Franzia, The Washington Post

“One of our most essential writers . . . . Engel’s gift for dialogue and her lyrical powers of description make these stories crackle, but it’s her bittersweet insight into the costs of leaving—and staying!—home that will lodge The Faraway World in your heart.” —Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire

"Any fan of Engel’s work will tell you to prepare yourself for unique and intimate layered storytelling. You'll find that and so much more in this new short story collection exploring themes of community, regret and migration." —TODAY

“When you’re in a dark place, you just want someone next to you with a (proverbial) flashlight, holding your hand. Patricia Engel does that in this evocative collective featuring Colombians and Colombian expats teetering on the line between despair, and resilience.” —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Best Book of the Month 

“Wistful and understated . . . . [its] characters have astonishingly complex relationships to places they’ve never seen or haven’t been to in many years, since they emigrated to another place . . . . The Faraway World is a collection about the Latin American diaspora, but it’s also one that proves how Engel, like one of her characters, is capable of noticing that between any two people a look reveals more than a fingerprint.’” —Leigh Newman, New York Times Book Review

“Most of the ten stories have a pair of characters at their center, the intersection of their lives sizzling like crossed wires. . . Engel’s gift for dialogue makes it a pleasure to read. . . full of ironic flair, imagination, and empathy.” —Marion Winik, WYPR’s “The Weekly Reader”

“Stellar . . . luminous [and] assured . . . . Engel places her own faith in the story behind each story; what shimmers off the page is as vital as the pieces themselves. She gracefully weaves the quiet despair of individual lives with the fury of social upheaval. With its dreamy, ephemeral title, The Faraway World hints at what lies beyond our grasp; and yet it grounds our fates in our own hands.” —Hamilton Cain, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"These 10 compelling stories follow characters that feel as real as I do, grappling with human struggles that feel both uniquely new and nearly universal. If you're looking for a collection that will touch your heart and make you look at your fellow humans more generously, this one's a can't-miss." —Good Housekeeping

“[This] collection lives up to Engel’s well-deserved reputation . . . . Each story is compelling in its own way. Engel’s writing has a propulsive effect, carrying readers forward, and her characters are fascinating.” —Southern Review of Books

"Patricia Engel is the kind of writer other writers love to envy. How could we not? There is a steady, consistent, and exquisite control in her prose. There is her rare ability to craft extraordinary situations out of this ordinary world . . . . There is also such unexpected beauty in her sentences . . . . I must be honest here: I’m still working on getting over my envious ways. Engel’s latest, The Faraway World, may have set me back some. But I suppose we can agree there’s enchantment in surrendering to an expert working at this level. Especially, if it is in service of looting some of her magic." —Cleyvis Natera, author of Neruda on the Park

“With flowing, beautiful language, Engel shows us a gritty reality, but mixes in doses of dark humor and empathy.” —Book Riot

“A powerful new story collection that captures the diasporic experience of the modern Americas in all its complexity, nuance, and humanity . . . . Her stories also move between registers—at times sweeping and tinged with history, other times intensely personal. Always, her characters are real people, dealing with real struggles, rendered beautifully, with insight and understanding.” —Dwyer Murphy, Lit Hub

“A haunting read . . . . No matter how far these stories travel, Engel infuses intimacy and care in every single life she writes.” —Chicago Review of Books

“A pleasure to read . . . . Engel's multinational update of dirty realism is full of ironic flair, imagination, and empathy.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)