In the Summer of 1966, Robert decides to realise his dream of opening a cafe when he sees the dilapidated corner cafe in the Carmelite market Square in Vienna is closing. A war orphan, raised by nuns, Robert is a kind and hardworking man, and though his cafe is not in a fashionable part of town, soon it’s a place where people can be themselves and find connection.

Robert Seethaler is an Austrian writer who was born in 66, the year that this books opens. He’s the author of eight novels, including A Whole Life which won the Man Booker Prize in 2017. This author is well known and loved in Europe, where he’s a best seller, and this is his fourth that’s been translated into English. This is the first of his books that I’ve read, and I will probably read some more.

The Cafe With No name is quite a thin book, at 191 pages, but it feels like just the right length. It’s not exactly cozy and cute, it’s perhaps more like literary fiction, though it’s not trying to send a message or have a philosophical outlook. The book goes along gently, telling us stories about Simon who opens the cafe, and then the stories from the lives of his friend the butcher, his waitress Mila, the widow he rents a room from and patrons of the cafe. It also shows the changing face of the corner of the town where they all live, to some extent. It’s a little portrait of the lives that connect and intersect at the cafe, and how the space connects them, giving them a place to forget their troubles or to talk and find comfort. They’re all normal, working men and women, and their lives are full of hubris and humanity, everyday existential angst and everyday tragedies. You feel the time slowly passing and the light changing with the seasons, as the book takes you along. In some ways, there are no huge dramas here, this book feels very down to earth and simple, but it’s a lovely read, though it has it’s sad moments. I liked this one.

Read It If: A lovely, short novel. Read it if you’ve ever curled up in a cafe with a book in the afternoon sun or sipped coffee while gossiping with a friend.

The Cafe With No Name is out February 2025. Thank you to PGC Books for the ARC of this book for review.