“Call it a mosaic. Here it all is—the pathos of a botched first date, a birth, a death, a feud, a stumble into love. The Café with No Name deals with the small dramas of everyday life... The prose has the stillness of a Vermeer: the milkmaid tilts her jug; Simon wipes the café counter. A pause: you see beyond the moment. In a world of action movies and social media there’s little time for quiet contemplation. Seethaler reminds us we’re part of a whole. If the prevailing gentleness at times slips into sweetness, consider the war widow’s words to Simon. There has to be hope, otherwise what’s the point?”
Read the full review in The Spectator.
