This is a gentle story about the owner of a small cafe and it's visitors. Set in 1960s Vienna, the writing creates real atmosphere and, although not much seems to happen in the story, it paints a picture of a town recovering from it's past and is deceptively simple. Robert rents a room from an elderly widow. They often share company over breakfast and he describes his ambition to open a small cafe one day. This soon becomes a reality and the small cafe with no name soon becomes a feature of the village and an important part of many lives. This is a tale about ordinary people, told in moving and compassionate description.

A cafe, which rose from the dusty streets of post war Vienna. A place where people can gather any day of the week, except Tuesdays, to either forget the mess around them or to talk through it all. A cafe with a good punch, basic but honest food and warm spot on a cold winter’s day to rest and escape. For regulars or for travellers. That is the place Robert Simon creates with a bit of encouragement from the butcher next door and help from Mila. And the place thrives and works and it becomes better and better with time until it is time for the end because things never stay the same.

This is a slow and quick read at the same time: a gentle pace but the book itself isn’t long. It tells the story of 1960s Vienna, through the lives of Robert, Mila and her boxing husband René, the butcher and his ever expanding family, Robert’s landlady and all the highs and lows that come with living. It captures a changing world and the need for a safe haven like the café in that world because we all need some sort of security and safe space to cope with all that life can throw at us.

This was such a gentle read where nothing really happens but it doesn’t matter. Set in Vienna in the 1960w, we follow Robert Simon, a gentle, unassuming man who lives a simple life, lodging with a war widow and working as a sort of handyman in the local market. Then he decides to open up a cafe and he even employs a young woman, Mila, who used to work in the local factory to help him .He has no real business plan, he just thinks it would be a good thing to do. He doesn’t even give the cafe a name. But the locals visit, they become regulars and over the course of the book, over the course of the years we get to know these characters, we get glimpses into their lives and through these little snapshots we see the kindnesses within this small community as the city recovers from the war. I particularly enjoyed the odd little chapters that are interspersed where two ladies are just talking together about anything and everything, jumping around from one thing to another as we all do when we are with friends. The author even references the collapse of the Reichsbrucke. There is a sense throughout that the future is uncertain, and the ending is quite melancholy, but on the whole this is such a gem of a book which reminds me of Marzahn Mon Amour which also was full of little vignettes about ordinary people with ordinary lives. A gentle and tender read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Robert Seethaler for this ARC!

This was a quick but impactful read for me. There’s a real sense in this book of how beautiful mundanity can be in the face of hardship and how some of the most poignant moments can come from the calm amongst the chaos. This was so sad at some points but there was a real beating heart at the centre of this book.

Robert Seethaler treats us to snapshots of the lives of the residents of 1966 Vienna, through the microscope of a corner cafe. Factory workers, market traders, a wrestler, elderly ladies and the local butcher are just some of the people who frequent the cafe and share their stories and secrets. From everyday gripes and gossip to devastating events, we see all aspects of life and the human condition pass through Robert Simon’s cafe.

The writing is quiet, without exaggeration or ceremony, which makes the sad moments all the more cutting. The words may be sparse but the emotion is abundant. Whilst the atmosphere at times is melancholic, there is hope in the characters lives and dreams and I was reluctant to leave them.

I really enjoyed this one, it felt like people watching in book form. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading about everyday lives and human emotion, it will definitely appeal to fans of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler.

I‘d read The Tobacconist by this author and enjoyed it so when this popped up on NG I thought I‘d give it a try.

This is a quiet, contemplative book, following a number of years in the life of a café, its owner Robert, and many of the customers.

Just a delightful relaxing read - perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

What a fantastic novel! Set in a café opposite a bustling market in postwar Vienna, we hear hundreds of disjointed stories, snapshots of the lives of the characters who frequent the Café. We learn of the desperate lives of ordinary people trying to make a living in the crumbling remains of a once beautiful city. Some of the lives intertwine, but the main focus is always based around the hard-working and lonely character Robert Simon who has opened the café, his landlady, who is the closest he has to family, and his waitress.
The book reads as overheard conversations, as if you were there passing between the tables in the café, a marvellous literary device.
An absolutely fascinating moment in history, recreated to give us an idea of lives of the Viennese at the time. An excellent translation too, I would thoroughly recommend this book.

Set in 1960s Vienna, The Café with No Name is the deceptively simple story of mild-mannered Robert Simon. He rents a room from an elderly widow with whom he often shares breakfast, providing each with quiet companionship. He harbours an ambition to open a café and one day comes across a property on the edge of the local market. It’s a bit rundown but he’s not afraid of hard work and sets to work refurbishing it. Unable to decide on a name for the cafe, it remains without one.

Customers start to come to the café. They drink a coffee, a beer or a glass of wine – possibly more than one – and eat the cafe’s simple food offering of bread and dripping. At the suggestion of the widow he adds hot punch to the menu – with great success – and thanks to his friend, the butcher across the street, he acquires a barmaid, Mila.

Some customers of the café sit alone, some strike up conversations with other customers, others join friends for a game of cards. There are regular patrons, including traders from the market. Others are simply passers-by. The café is the scene of assignations, quarrels and gossip. It’s a place to unburden yourself or just to sit in quiet reflection. It’s everything Robert hoped the café would be. ‘[He] couldn’t help smiling at the thought of all the lost souls who came together in his café every day.’

Gradually we learn more about the lives of some of the café’s customers. There are moments of joy and sadness, of hope and despair. I found certain scenes intensely moving but I also enjoyed the touches of humour, chiefly provided by two female customers whose gossipy conversation the author allows us to eavesdrop on periodically.

Change is in the air as Vienna continues to rebuild after the war. And for Robert and the café, as in life, it’s time to move on. The Café with No Name explores the lives of ordinary people with an engagingly deft and compassionate touch.

I would give this book 4.5⭐️ if I could.
A charming story of the everyday life of a small Viennese cafe. Robert Simon achieves his dream and takes over an empty cafe opposite the market in 1960s Vienna. Over the next ten years we meet many of the customers, some fleetingly, and follow Simon as he builds his business and watches his customers come and go.
Beautifully written a lovely quiet book to enjoy. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

This is nostalgic story which captures a period of time from one small but powerful perspective, that of a cafe with no name, in 1960s Austria. This is a charming story which tells the story of a changing time. All the characters have a special charm about them too as we hear their stories. This is a beautifully told story.

This was one of those gentle reads that shouldn't really work as there's not much going on, but it does because of the quality of the writing and the strength of the characters created!

Set in Vienna in the 1960's we follow a man, who lives a very simple life and opens up the local cafe with no real plan but he's just driven to do so. And the locals flock to this hub and that's where we are introduced to a variety of characters and the impact they have on the cafe owner, and he on them.

I really loved the simplicity of this story. Setting it in Vienna during changing times, we see the impact of recent history on the people, and the different characters allow us to see them all facing different challenges.

The story is told over a number of years, and it is a wonderful look at characters and the smallest details make the biggest impact on you as a reader. I can see why it's been so successful over the years in Europe and this wonderful translation should now extend that success here!

A gentle story about Simon and his cafe. Set in Vienna shortly after the war. Nothing much happens, but we hear the stories of Simon’s customers and his assistant Mila, who much prefers working in his cafe than in the bar and factory where she’s worked before.

It’s 1960s Vienna and we meet Robert Simon about to sign a lease for a cafe with no name and it remains with no name. He employs Mila to help him with catering for his eclectic mix of customers. There is no plot to this book just the stories of his customers lives and how they interact with each other.
It’s a little gem of a book allowing us an insight into a community and how they cope with change together. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for a copy in exchange for this honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I enjoyed this, especially at the beginning when Robert and everyone were younger and full of hope. The characters are very well drawn as is the cafe and that area of Vienna. I particularly like the short in between chapters which were the ladies talking about various things and jumping from one topic to another, I thought that was very realistically done.

The book is full of emotion, quiet friendships, unlikely relationships, respect for everyone no matter their circumstances. a regret for the past and uncertainty for the future. I must say though, that the melancholy tone increases as the book goes on and by the end, I found it almost all too much. The ending was really very sad but, I suppose, realistic.

I imagine that I will think about the characters and wonder what lay in store for them all but overall, it is just too sad to read again.

A restful read, set in Vienna during the 1960s. It slowly examines the minutiae of the lives of the people who frequent The Cafe with No Name. Its owner, Robert Simon, observes its derelict state, decides to rescue it, and seeks to establish a warm and welcoming environment for the local community to gather in.

The cafe is simple in design and purpose, and in the menu that is offered there, yet it’s made inviting by the warmth of the characters and the way they help and support one another. Their lives have a mix of the marvellous and the mundane, with the ordinary made extraordinary by what happens to them.

What sings out loud and clear in this quiet rendering of small lives is the indomitable quality of the human spirit in overcoming adversity and pulling together when trouble strikes. There is gentle humour laced with dark circumstances as love and loss and friendship coexist together.

This is a charming, character driven, comforting little book which hones in on the highlights and lowlights of life with a photographic eye that sees and reveals the beauty in each tiny snapshot of time. No discernible plot, just lots of observational detail to warm the heart. Grateful thanks to Canongate and NetGalley for the eARC. I loved it!

A very gentle, slow moving story about a the life of a café owner and his clientele. Set in Vienna in the 60's it describes their lives over a number of years and how the community spirit helps them through difficult times. Not really for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate for the advance copy of this book.

The Café With No Name
By Robert Seethaler

An absolutely delightful story about a modest café in a busy marketplace in a working class section of 1960s Vienna, which was nudged back from dereliction by Robert Simon who simply wanted a place of his own.

Over the course of ten years we meet the various people who make up Robert's clientele, simple, hardworking people who each have their own hardships and their own perspectives. Through snippets and vignettes we come to understand this neighbourhood, share their experiences and observe the gentle kindnesses they grant each other as they go about the business of recovering their city from the rubble and ruin of the war.

This is a story that requires patience from the reader. While the language is warm and inviting, there's not a lot going on at first glance, but this is one of those books that seeps into your soul as the personalities develop. Each seemingly casual exchange adds another layer of complexity to this community of waywards and oddballs. It would have much appeal to readers who love stories of found family.

This is such a slim volume, and could easily be read on a single sitting, but my advice would be to linger over the chapters and allow some time between to absorb these humble, honest, salt of the earth characters.

Publication date:13th February 2025
Thanks to #NetGalley and #CanongateBooks for providing an eGalley for review purposes

A gentle read - beautifully written, compassionately observed and with a very fine sense of place. The Cafe with No Name is in a Vienna market. It’s nothing grand or pretentious, just somewhere where market workers and others can come for basic drinks and sustenance and for someone to talk to. All of life passes through the cafe and all are welcome. Although the book has no real plot it satisfies on a much more fundamental level with the writer’s superb observational skills and deep understanding of the human condition.

A historical novel of life in Vienna after WW II centred on a community of Store holders, their families and friends, of an open market. Infiltered is the homeless young man without family and fiends earning a living by doing odd jobs like cleaning clearing for the store holders as required. By good fortune he acquires the lease of an abandoned derelict Café nearby. By dint of hard work, cleaning and painting he brings the place back to work as watering hole for the community. A heart-warming story of the ups and downs of life where people survive due to the support of families, friends and neighbours.

Humanity in all its guises. A delightful trip through the lives of the community who pass through Robert’s café. Within the pages of this endearing story we find love and friendships blooming.
We see, in the face of adversity, there is always someone to hold a hand out to help. We discover how love can be found amongst the most unlikely couples - but there is also sadness here because there has to be a balance.
It’s a heartwarming read and very well worth reading.
I loved it. Come and sit with me in the Café with No Name and we’ll pass a pleasant hour watching the world go by and drinking raspberry soda with the locals.