The Café with No Name takes us to 1960s Vienna, where Robert Simon, a market worker runs a small cafe. The cafe becomes a becomes a community hub for the locals, each with their own stories and everyday struggles.

There’s no real plot—just simple, nostalgic moments that capture everyday life. It’s beautifully written -a real treat to read.

Market worker, Robert Simon, decides to take the lease on an empty cafe, apparently something he had always had in mind to do. This is the story of the ten years he runs the cafe until the area is due for redevelopment and his lease is terminated. The book is about his life, living with a landlady, we know of as the widow, the cafe, which he does up from time to time and the customers who frequent it. During the whole time Simon has the cafe he never gives it a name, almost as if he doesn't want to become to attached to it.
I'm not sure how this book comes across in German. It is well translated - there is nothing jarring about the text - but it does lack plot and to my mind is more series of events and character studies without much to connect them, or for the reader to become involved with. The book is a quick and easy read and there are some lovely scenes in it but for a higher score and more fulsome review I prefer more plot.
With thanks to Netgalley and Canongate Books for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

The novel is about a market worker, Robert Simon who fulfills a life long dream to run a cafe. The story tells of how he builds it up and it becomes somewhat of a refuge for the locals. We are given a spotlight on certain customers' lives and there are some heartbreaking moments. Generally though, I'm not sure where the story was going and there wasn't any real hook, despite it being an easy read.
There were some chapters where the speech was unformatted and free rolling which I really liked because it mirrors how one might hear conversations in such an environment - moving from topic to topic, littered with anecdotes and personal reflections. These were possibly the most successful part of the whole novel.

I am aware that this book has had a lot of pleased readers but I find it hard to go along with that based in a market in Vienna, the lead character with the unlikely name of Robert Simon lodges with an elderly widow. He does odd jobs around the market until the local cafe falls empty. He secures the lease and smartens the place up to make it more attractive. That works and he gets new and different customers but never gives his cafe a name. The basis of the book is telling us about the behaviour of his customers which is not really interesting. Then, after a successful few years, the market is demolished to make way for new buildings. The cafe closes, still without a name. The book is presumably well written in its native language and it certainly reads well in translation. The problem is there is no story line and nothing to look forward to. I am not able to recommend it.

A small derelict cafe is taken over by Robert and slowly transforms into a community hub. Nothing much happens but there is a thread of interconnected anecdotes about the people who go there. Some stories are heartwarming; some are heartbreaking. I did not perceive a plot.

The one constant is Robert but he leads such a hard life. Kind to all but ultimately loses out.

I received an ARC from NetGalley.

How things could be if you just take a chance is what i drew from the sweet, meandering story. Poetic in its prose.

Lovely, easy read. Robert simon and all the cafe patrons made a gentle easy read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

Set in 1960s Vienna as the city recovers from WW2, this largely gentle story follows Simon as he renovates a run down café. His clientele wander in and out, some of whom we get to know well, others are minor players, but no less realistic.

There are dramatic moments, but mostly this is day-to-day real life that the reader can step into and absorb. The café and the market come to life through the writer's perceptive descriptions, never wordy, but detailed enough to make his scenes really come alive.

I liked Simon a lot and wished for more for him!

A joyous little book. While nothing particularly special happens plot wise, this book was full of so many lovely and interesting characters. The cafe itself almost acts as a central character, with its rusty door hinges and stained wooden floors, I can picture perfectly what this little forgotten cafe would have looked like. Reading this felt like a forgotten hug, full of nostalgia and warm moments. What a delightful read.

This was a pleasant, pensive read. The Café With No Name tells a tale of a small town in Vienna undergoing change after WWII, one change being the new cafe where the town residents congregate. Most chapters are a slice-of-life following one of the main characters, while other chapters immerse you into conversations of town residents who frequent the cafe.

I love slice-of-life stories, so the first half of the book was especially enjoyable for me. It was exciting to learn a bit about the more significant characters and watch how they further integrate into the changing town community. Things got a bit slower in the second half, but the ending was satisfying and made sense considering how the story and the town itself were progressing.

I had some difficulty understanding the chapters that consisted only of dialogue. The format might be different when published, but the ARC did not have any quotation marks in these chapters, and there was no indication of who the speaker was or when there was a switch in speakers. These chapters seemed to be formatted as a continuous stream of thought. I could appreciate why - it gave me the experience of listening in on a conversation at the next table or listening to your grandparents talk about life. It fits the vibe of the overall story, but it did confuse me every time there was a switch from the normal chapters to these dialogue chapters.

The Cafe With No Name by Robert Seethaler

In 1960s Vienna Robert Simon revives a long-closed and dilapidated cafe. We are introduced to many character who come to the cafe, and to the surrounding area in a period of great change following the wars.

Wow, this book is absolutely brilliant - I loved it! The author and translator do such a great job of evoking the atmosphere of the period and the local community. I loved the characters and the stories of their lives. Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I’ve just finished The Cafe with No Name by Robert Seethaler, and like his previous novels The Tobacconist and A Whole Life, this one didn’t disappoint. Set in 1960s Vienna, it’s a quiet, thoughtful story centered around Robert Simon and his small cafe near the Karmelitermarkt. The city is rebuilding after the war, and as Vienna changes, so does Robert. I loved how Seethaler captures the gentle transformation of both the city and the characters, especially Robert’s relationship with his employee Mila and the regulars who bring the cafe to life. Seethaler has a way of making the ordinary feel profound, and he’s easily my favorite living Austrian author.

The Café with No Name by Robert Seethaler is a simple and tender but insightful and authentic read. Infused with melancholy.

Robert Simon has worked around the market but when the opportunity to take on a cafe presents itself he grasps it. With a quiet dignity, and the help of Mila, who comes looking for work, he turns it into the heart of the community.

This is a gentle story full of humanity but not shying away from the bad as well as the good.

This is one of those books that is deceptively simple with it's restrained characters - as if playing a B&W movie.

Plain simple human interactions over coffee or beer, the cafe bears silent witness of the private lives of it's regulars in 1960s Vienna after the war. The timeline allows a city rebuilding itself from WWII to have characters who are eager to restart and yet muted in demeanor.

The book is largely atmospheric, as it, chapter after chapter, plays out slice of life scenes from the lives of the regulars and the characters. Other than Simon, the cafe owner and Mila his staff, the other characters stroll in and out of the story. Some leave an impact, like the butcher next door or the widow who rents her apartment to Simon, while most others don't.

I don't know if it's just me, but I felt the characters devoid of any emotion even through the most harrowing experiences. There seems to be a stoicism at play, that feels repetitive and maybe even distant.

If you ask me, I would rather be an investor in the cafe than invest in the lives of the people who visit the place.

Robert makes his wishes come true by taking over a cafe in Vienna in 1960s.

This marks the start of our warm and witty journey with the frequenters of the cafe and the people in its neighbourhood.

I enjoyed Seethaler’s prose to a large extent. I only expected a bit more; more layers, more plot, more to discover.

Opening in 1960s Vienna, The Café with No Name follows Robert Simon, an orphan and market handyman, whose dream is to run a bar, against a backdrop of a social change as Vienna picks itself up after the war. He opens his doors on the first day to a steady stream of customers, many of whom will become regulars over the years. Before long he’s busy enough to take on practical, no-nonsense Mila who becomes virtually indispensable. As the years roll by, happiness is embraced, small tragedies play out, the occasional drama flares up, all commented on by the two ladies who like to share a drink together every day.
Seethaler excels at writing about everyday life from the perspective of ordinary people. Nothing much happens in his novels, yet they are full of rich detail, humanity and humour for which a café offers the perfect setting. Some of his cast of regulars come to the fore – the butcher frets about yet another child on the way, quickly coming round to the idea with joy; Mila picks herself up after a terrible loss which will never leave her. Others like Harald, the war veteran who likes to remove his glass eye and roll it across the table, remain in the background. The occasional chapters in which the two ladies pass comment and remember their past were a particular delight. My expectations were high for this one and were more than fulfilled.

The Café with No Name is a beautifully melancholic gentle tale of a small café- it's owner and the locals who visit it .

This is Vienna in the 1960s - a city that is recovering and changing from its past.

Robert Simon has dreamed of owning a café and when the opportunity arises to take over a property near a busy market he seizes the chance
With the support of Mila- a barmaid- together they establish a place of joy, refuge, comfort and a community is established.

This is a somewhat gentle and wistful read- ( but never hiding from the hardships of life) telling the story of Robert and his landlady - The Widow ; Mila and her boxing husband Rene and weaving in the lives of other residents and frequent visitors.

Katy Derbyshire's translation captures the mood of the time and the place - a new world approaching but haven for people can be found within the four walls of the café.

Robert Seethaler's novel has been a big success and this translated version should bring new readers into The Cafe with No Name.
A book to gently savour and enjoy.

Quotes:
I do love the sound of ice cubes in the glass. That alone makes everything worth it.

This is such a beautiful novel.

Robert buys a run down cafe and rebuilds it, while doing so he meets people from all walks of life and all of whom contribute to this wonderful tale.

It has characters who warm your heart with their life stories and I immersed myself in this book.. It was as if I sat down with a coffee and watched these people live their lives and make them my friends.

I loved the emotions this book evoked and I especially loved the Viennese setting.

The Cafe with No Name is a captivating read and I defy any reader not to love it..

3.5 stars


I was drawn in by the praise from Strout.
So glad I was.
It was heartwarming, and sad, and just lovely.
A gentle tale, that has some great characters.
Lovely.