Safe Return Doubtful

translated from the German (Austria) by Katy Derbyshire – Published 2024

This was a really rewarding reading experience, a vibrant story of a working-class Viennese cafe and the eccentric characters that inhabit it.

Robert Simon, an orphan with a tough childhood is in his early 30s in 1966, making a living doing odd jobs at the market close by to the room he rents from an old war widow. When the old market cafe is put up for rent, he signs a lease and makes it his own, even though it is in a bad state of repair. Within weeks it is bustling with local folk; the cheeseshop owner, the butcher, yarn factory girls, a wrestler, a former bill-collector with a glass eye, and many others.

The book moves along at a pleasant pace with anecdotes of the various characters, though there is some drama also.

This is easy and enjoyable reading, and hard not to compare to a visit to the cafe itself.

My GoodReads score 4 / 5