The Café with No Name

The beautiful latest from Seethaler (A Whole Life) revolves around the diverse patrons of a Viennese café. In summer 1966, war orphan Robert Simon, now 31 and tired of manual labor, decides to open a café. With encouragement from the local butcher and his elderly landlady, Robert leases a space. Soft-spoken and kindhearted, he finds his new role fulfilling, though as sole proprietor he’s overwhelmed, so he hires out-of-work seamstress Mila Szabica as a waitress. Together, they make the café into a neighborhood institution. Across a decade of accidents, illnesses, and romantic entanglements, the novel follows the fortunes of regulars like wrestling star Rene Wurm, who swiftly falls for Mila and marries her, as well as the tempestuous romance between cheese shop worker Heidi and painter Mischa. Meanwhile, Robert develops a bittersweet attraction to Jascha, a troubled young Yugoslavian woman, just as his landlady begins to descend into dementia. When the café eventually closes, readers will feel the loss as much as the characters do. Seethaler’s story bursts with empathy in its portrayal of a found family. This is a winner. (Feb.)