The 24 Hour Cafe is, as the title suggests, a book set in a cafe which is open 24 hours a day. Over the course of one 24 hour period we get to know the staff and some of the customers who visit this London eatery. The main narrators are waitresses Hannah and Mona. They also share a flat and although working in the cafe, Hannah is an aspiring singer while Mona dreams of a dance career. We learn about both women not just during the course of that day but also looking at what brought them to London, how they ended up sharing a flat and the highs and lows of their quests to fulfil their dreams. We also meet several of the customers of the cafe, some regulars, some just passing through.

Reading the book is a bit like people watching. We get glimpses into lives, sometimes getting quite a lot of the story but sometimes just brief interludes leaving the reader to decide where the story or character goes. These are characters you will really take to heart. I felt I wanted to know what happens next for so many of them such as lovers Joe and Haziq, student Dan, new mother Monique, Big Issue salesman John. So I was pleased when the epilogue revisited the cafe a year later and rounded off some of their stories. 

My heart broke for some of the characters but swelled for joy for others - sometimes I felt both emotions for the same people at different points of the book. The friendship between the two women, Mona and Hannah, was so beautifully portrayed. Their dreams and aspirations were clear and, although it's fair to say they had their ups and downs, their unfailing support for each other was touching. 

The 24 Hour Cafe may seem to be just a gentle, observational story, with perhaps not much happening, but Libby Page's writing draws you in as though you are sitting in that cafe yourself and watching the customers. It is beautifully written, tender look at friendship and love and life and really, it's just a lovely, lovely book

I enjoyed this story - I liked the 2 main characters. I wasn’t so keen on all the stories about the customers as we didn’t really find out enough about them. I would rather have learnt more about the other characters working in the cafe. I had read The Lido and enjoyed it which was why I was keen to read this book.

Many things can happen in 24 hours, especially in a café in the heart of London where we meet a cast of various characters all going through an important moment in their lives. There is the young man wondering if he will find a place where to sleep; the couple in love who are saying goodbye to each other; the newlyweds about to go on their honeymoon; the new mother who doesn’t want to go home to her family, and many more. And then there are Hannah and Mona. They are waitresses at Stella’s, the café open all day and all night. Hannah and Mona are best friends: they live together and they share the dream to make it as performers.

With each chapter, an hour goes by and we meet new characters and we learn more about Hannah and Mona’s friendship, from meeting to a party five years earlier to the secrets and resentment that causes a strain in their relationship. During those 24 hours, we really get to know these characters. I liked them, I disagreed with them, I cheered them on, and I really wanted to know how their story would end. Some of the stories were heartbreaking, some had a beautiful happy ending, and they were all thought-provoking and captivating.

The author beautiful and clear writing style made the story more real and it felt like I was watching the events unfold on TV rather than reading it on my kindle. I loved how everything was detailed and authentic and the characters are all relatable.

The 24-Hour Café is an heartwarming and refreshing story full of food that will make your mouth water and with characters that will make you both laugh and cry. Highly recommended!

This was just what it said on the cover, the centre was the 24hr cafe and the cast of workers. Hannah who is a wannabe singer and Mona who is a dancer, they work in the cafe to have an income and keep their flat paid for. We get to see the background of their stories and also a snapshot of the frequent and infrequent customers visiting the cafe. The two women are now in their 30's so they are losing hope of ever hitting the height in singing and dancing but they still go to auditions and hope. I loved the way the customers were all given a 'story' too and if you love people watching as I do you will be gripped with their stories and anticipate where they are going.
I found this a great 'feel good' story and loved the idea of having a 24hr cafe in every city, I would definitely be visiting.

I loved Libby’s new book - she perfectly captures the intensity of female friendship at that stage of life when you’re yet to find your way. The device of 24 hours, giving Hannah and Mona 12 hours each, was so clever, and I loved the stories of the customers too. A beautiful and heartfelt read.

The 24 Hour Café is an emotional, absorbing read which was very addictive and I often found myself trying to fit in a few more pages whenever I could.

Firstly I loved the fly on the wall view that I had of life in the café which made me feel that I was there watching everything unfold. It felt almost like people watching at times, which I always enjoy and I liked seeing all the different people who visit the café.

The story is told mainly from Hannah’s point of view but sometimes other important characters come into the spotlight which makes for very interesting reading as I learnt more about them. Some of the customers back story was very emotional and I often found myself wishing I knew them personally so I could offer help or at least a hug. I wished I could follow them for longer so I could see how things worked out for them. I always think it is a sign of some brilliant writing when you end up caring so much for the characters.

Overall I thought this was an easy read, with the style of the book just drawing the reader into the story. The back stories of the characters let me find out more about them and what made them tick. They soon began to feel like old friends and I felt very sad to finish the book and leave them, and the café, behind.

Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orion for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

Oh this book made me cry! I don’t cry very often when I read, it’s got to be a book that really touches my heart and not just because it’s got a sad storyline.

This book really crept up on me, gently pulling at my heart as I flipped the pages on my tablet. I so enjoyed reading about Hannah and Mona and the customers at Stella’s 24 Hour Café. I loved all their stories, sometimes cringing, sometimes laughing, sometimes holding my breath as to what was going to happen next in their lives.

I loved the gentle pace of this quiet novel, that hooked me and kept me wanting more glimpses into the lives of the well drawn characters. They all felt like real people, with real lives, something that Libby Page is so good at creating. Stella’s felt so real, that I was planning my next trip to London in my head with a visit to the cafe! 😀

Towards the end, when more was revealed about the staff and customers, well that’s when the tears really came, making me reflect on my own life, about the decisions and the friendships I’ve made over the years. Sometimes we get happy endings and sometimes we don’t, but that’s life and that’s the beauty of Libby Page’s 24-Hour Café.

Highly recommended if you enjoy gentle contemporary novels, but be warned you’ll probably need a box of tissues nearby.

I loved The Lido, so had high hopes for The 24 Hour Cafe – I wasn’t disappointed, Libby writes beautifully, her style is cheerful and contains compassion and care – about the book, about the characters, who have been finely honed to all be likable.

The characters really are just everyday people, like you and me, but written so carefully describing them is like being stood next to them. Hannah and Mona are flatmates and have been for a number of years, first, they shared with others, Poppy, Lily, Sophie, but they have all moved on – in their chosen careers and with partners they met along the way. For Hannah and Mona, life hasn’t moved on as they hoped, it stood still for them with the singing and dancing careers they craved and men, well the least said the better. For now, they are happy, in their flat, together. Working in the 24 Hour Cafe, working separate shifts, to pay the rent.

Mona – a dancer and Hannah a Singer – both attend auditions for jobs for work, its their shared passion for the arts brought them together and now may tear them apart.

I liked how the hours counted round and each hour brought a new set of customers and characters, each with their own story to tell. There’s Dan – a student, he’s homeless and grieving the death of his Mum and goes to the cafe to keep warm but pretends to study and wait for his University Library to open. Martha and Harry – newlyweds just off on honeymoon, both in the later stages of their lives, but finding new joy. Joe and Haziq whos being deported and they can’t bare how being torn apart makes them feel.

The book has at its heart a story of love, friendship, community of making the most of what you have, even when sometimes its like the whole world is against you. And how all these things can bring hope to these people. I can only imagine the fun Libby Page had people watching for research purposes, note-taking and creating their stories. All of which then became The 24 Hour Cafe.

An uplifting, heartwarming and just lovely book, which was a joy to read and feel part of. Libby Page has a style all her own that creates a warmth from her words that flow out the pages and into your heart. Another winner here from Libby, read this and prepare to feel wrapped up and like your in The 24 Hour Cafe with Mona and Hannah.

Loved this novel by the author of The Lido, Page writes so convincingly of the intricate details of people’s lives. The characters of Mona and Hannah, the strength and testing of their friendship. The other people whose lives they touched and observed. I particularly liked the way in which the story was resolved, we got to know what happened with Dan, Monique, Harry and Martha (although that made me cry!) and Joe and Haziq. Great storytelling, heart warming and honest. Thanks to Netgalley and Orion for the privilege of reading and ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a book where the title literally is the story - 24 hours in Stella’s cafe! Waitresses and flat mates Hannah and Mona share the duties, one from midnight to midday, before the other takes over. Each hour, a different customer enters and we have a brief insight into their lives, before they move on and make way for the next. 

The story felt slightly disjointed, with so many characters fleetingly glimpsed, that at times it was difficult to keep going. However, the final chapter - 1 year later - managed to bring everything back together and tie up all the lose ends that had been dangling for so long.  

A gentle read, not too taxing apart from remembering who everybody was, and light entertainment for a cold winter’s day.

This book truly touched my heart and I may have shed a tear or two. At the centre of The 24-Hour Café are Mona and Hannah, two friends who waitress at Stella’s Café in between their respective dancing and singing jobs. Their story is told over one particular day in the life of the café on Liverpool Street, London, along with the coming and goings of the other staff and the customers. Each encounter throughout the 24 hours reminds both women about certain stages of their friendship and what’s important. This story, Mona and Hannah’s story, is a testament to the power of female friendships. 

Although each customer is a secondary character, we learn a snippet of their story and what brings them to the café at a particular time on that day. Libby Page’s love of people watching jumps off of the pages. Each character is so different and has their own story so we end up with many stories in one book. I really enjoyed that and the diverse range of characters. I found myself caring about each customer as much as I did Mona and Hannah. 

I absolutely adored The Lido, Libby’s debut novel. It’s an intelligently written and well structured story. The 24-Hour Café is the same. Both have a focus on belonging and the importance of community but in different ways. 

The 24-Hour Café is a story about kindness, love, friendships and the importance of community. Having read both of Libby’s books, she is fast becoming a favourite author and I cannot wait for her third book. I am sure I will not even need to read the blurb to know that I will love it.

"The 24-hour Cafe" is a charming story of friendships, love lost and found, last chances and decisions that must be taken. It is told in short vignettes, in a span of 24 hours during the opening times of Stella's Cafe on a bursting Liverpool Street. The main characters, friends Hannah and Mona, are waitresses in the cafe, still waiting for their breakthroughs in their artistic careers. As they whiling away the hours, they observe customers, young and old, who visit the cafe throughout the day and night. The reader gets glimpses into their lives and catches them in those short moments, when they eat and drink, alone or in the company. The main focus of the book is the story of friendship between Hannah and Mona - their highs and lows and the times when their relationship is tested to the breaking point. 

I really enjoyed the unusual setting of the book, the short narratives which offered only glimpses into their stories - they left me wondering about their futures and cheering their successes. I also liked that the book concentrated on friendship rather then love interests. Perhaps the jumping in time was slightly disorientating sometimes, and the interspersing stories of customers were occasionally predicable, but I really enjoyed the book's uplifting feel.

thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy in return for an unbiased opinion.   

I'm sorry, this wasn't for me, I did persevere until over half way through but abandoned it as it just was too many stories in one book.  More like a collection of short stories.  I may well pick it up again in the summer when I just want to dip in and out of a book.  the stories were good but not enough to make me want to carry on reading for now.

Do you like coffee shops? Have you ever wondered how are the lives of the people that are serving you? Because they have been looking at you and possibly making your life much easier without you noticing it… Ready to discover the life in your favourite cafe for the next 24 hours?
I’ll say from the beginning that this had been a curious story. Shared in the perspective of two waitress, we’ll see how their lives and friendship will change forever in just 24 hours. Don’t expect tragedy, it’s a sweet story, but expect a lot of love and happiness!
The story is told in first person between all the characters that cross the cafe during these 24 hours. Their dreams, hopes and thoughts; their problems and fears… It felt like you are in the coffee shop with all of them, like another customer, feeling the smell of the coffee and pancakes! Their stories are so tender and real that I would have loved to know more about them!
Hannah and Mona are the main characters, we will discover their past and their friendly relationship till the present. I’ll admit that I didn’t like much Hannah and in the end I felt like there was something missing in her story. But, on the other side, Mona was delightful and with a big heart, I would love to discover more about her new life and how things continue with her. I hope the author reads my review and thinks about making a second part of the story!
This is a heart warming story, it will leave you with a smile for the rest of the day, don’t doubt it! 😉

I think I may have found my new favourite read.  The 24 hour café is my first introduction to the works of Libby Page and it ticked all the boxes and more in my little reading heart.  This is the story of a café in the centre of the city of London that is open 24 hours a day serving teas, coffees, food and is a place to feel welcomed whatever the time of day.

We follow the lives of Hannah and Mona, two waitresses at the café, who are best friends and share a home and their dreams together.  This story is one 24 hour snapshot in the goings on in the café when a momentous event changes everything in Hannah and Mona's lives.  As the drama of the night and day unfolds the story focuses on each waitress as they go through the rituals of their allocated shift at work.  We get to hear the story of how they met, how they interpret their friendship and their personal and professional lives.  Hannah and Mona are creative souls and have dreams to express their talents and entertain people.  Hannah wishes to sing and make people happy and Mona wishes to dance as a career so waitressing is not their calling it is just a stop gap and a means to pay the bills.

As Hannah's shift at work progresses through the night customers come and go but a few stay in our minds as we are introduced to their stories.  I think this is what makes the 24 hour café special.  Stella's café not only serves refreshments but it is a place to convene, to meet, to escape, to relax and to feel safe.  The visitors of the café, or any café, have their own stories and as we see the little snippets of their lives our hearts are opened to let them in.  When the girls change shifts we get to hear of Mona's life, concerns and hopes.

The 24 hour café is such a poignant, thought provoking read that will touch your heart and will never let it go.  People come and go in your life but sometimes a time and place will set off a new road of enlightenment of opportunity and possibilities.  

Beautiful, heartfelt and truly wonderful story telling.

I picked up The 24 Hour Café based on all the excitement around Libby Page's debut, The Lido, which I haven't read.  It took me a little while to get into the book as I felt that we had only just started to scratch the surface of a story before the clock chimed the next hour and new customers entered the shop, but the long-running thread of Hannah and Mona's friendship kept me interested.  

Hannah and Mona are flatmates who work in Stella's Café which is situated opposite Liverpool Street Station in London.  It is open 24 hours so attracts a myriad clientele throughout the day and night.  The main story is around Hannah and Mona's friendship which is put to the test during the 24 hours we observe the cafe, but there are lots of little stories based on the lives of customers in the café.

Hannah has recently broken up with her boyfriend and I could tell he was a bad 'un from the start; preferring Star Trek to Star Wars is not a good sign!  I enjoyed this part of the story though, showing how Hannah's relationship with Jaheim not only changed her but consumed her and left Mona well outside Hannah and Jaheim's bubble.  I wondered how much of this was Hannah's own doing, but I suspected Jaheim liked that level of control over her.  Mona is a very good best friend to Hannah; she keeps quiet and bides her time knowing that boyfriends come and go but friends remain.

If you've ever people-watched and wondered what their story was, this book is for you!  Libby Page has put people watching into print and it did feel like I was there in the corner of the café, sipping my cuppa and observing the goings on myself.  Maybe I'm just nosy but I would have liked to delve a bit more into the lives of the customers, however, for Libby Page to have done so she would have ended up with several volumes of The 24 Hour Café.  

Libby Page's writes in such vivid colour that The 24 Hour Café brings London to life in front of your very eyes; the hustle and bustle is evident but also a more humane side.  Whereas a visitor to London might find it impersonal and inhospitable at first, Libby Page shows that there's more to Londoners than might first meet the eye.  I think you could call The 24 Hour Café a love letter to London, as Libby Page paints our capital city in such glorious light.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Having absolutely loved Libby Page’s The Lido, I was extremely excited to get my hands on The 24-Hour Cafe, which has just published this month. Page’s next novel takes place over the course of 24 hours, in a cafe near Liverpool Street station. Stella’s is open all hours of the day and night, for weary travelers on their way to and from London, lively revelers after a night out, and anyone who needs the comforting warmth of a safe place.

The novel is centered around two of the cafe’s employees, Hannah and Mona – who are also friends and housemates. They have both been drawn to London to follow their dreams: Hannah as a musician and Mona as a dancer. As they tried to find their way in this welcoming but sometimes overwhelming city, they gravitated towards each other and became firm friends. Although, now, as they get older and the pressures of being a 30 something in this city of possibilities begin to grow, we see their relationship come under threat.

Their friendship for me was the heart of the whole novel, and it was a breath of fresh air to see this type of relationship treated with such sincerity and tenderness. We experience many different types of love in our lifetime, and it was a joy to read about friendship rather than the more usual obsession with romantic relationships. Interestingly, although it is a novel very much about their friendship, we get to know Hannah and Mona separately, as the novel follows them working shifts in the cafe, one after the other. They only cross paths between their shifts, in a heated and pivotal exchange in the middle of the book.

While Hannah and Mona work, customers come and go, and the novel replicates that intriguing glimpse into people’s lives we get people watching in public spaces. There are several stories within the story, as we segway into short passages following different customers: student Dan seeking somewhere warm to spend the evening; Martha and Harry who are about to embark on the holiday of a lifetime; Joe and Haziq who have to go separate ways when they leave the cafe. Just as with short stories, some of these scenarios are resolved, some are left as unanswered questions.

I found this really captured the spirit of a space like this in a busy city, and made for an original format. My favourite thing about the novel was definitely Hannah and Mona’s relationship – a celebration and examination of friendship, which I found very heartening. The 24-Hour Cafe is out now, with Orion – if you loved The Lido, like me, you’re going to need to give this one a read too!

I did worry the book was going to center entirely on Hannah and Mona over the 24 hour period but we do transition seamlessly between them and the customers of the café, which is nice. This is an emotional read at times, especially when exploring the friendship between Hannah and Mona, and the sometimes tragic stories of the customers. The book is comforting and every time I thought about opening it up to read it gave me a warm feeling.

I loved the plot of the café work as a small, restrictive window into other people's stories, and the fact that none of the customers truly see into the waitresses lives either.

A beautiful book about friendship and platonic love and how it's just as potent and affecting as romantic love.

I found myself totally captivated by the goings on of the staff and customers of Stella's, a 24 hour cafe by Liverpool Street Station, that becomes a 'family' to those who frequent it, however briefly! There's a story behind everyone and it was so fascinating to be a 'people watcher' with each chapter, while the main story revolves around the 2 waitresses - Hannah and Mona. Best friends and flat mates, who both moved to London with different artistic dreams but their career paths haven't quite gone to plan, but they still live in hope despite constant disappointment!

They work long shifts so there's a lot of time for them to reflect on their pasts and to look forward to what they hope, as well as connect with the different characters that they see come into the cafe. There's Dan who is a student and still coming to terms with the death of his mother, and finding it difficult to ask for help financially. A chance chat with an insomniac writer also in the cafe brings him some hope, and it's the coming together of people who would never normally meet up that really made this book for me. Everyone is equal in the cafe and it gives people a time to sit, take time out from the world outside and to feel safe over a cuppa or breakfast! There's also John, the Big Issue seller, a stressed out new mum, an older couple looking forward to a new life together, the city worker losing his job and more - all really different kinds of people who have an interesting story to tell.

It also brilliantly explores the role of female friendships. Mona and Hannah were brought together when sharing a house with other friends, and they instantly hit it off and got a flat together and it is fascinating to see how their friendship evolves over the years, especially with new career opportunities and boyfriends on the scene - how sometimes the things you find most stable and comforting can quickly change in the blink of an eye.

I adored The Lido, and feel just as warmly about The 24 Hour Cafe! The author has a brilliant way of inventing characters and making them so appealing to read about - their different approaches to life and all the problems thrown in their way - and it's a book I highly recommend!!

The story revolves Stella’s Cafe which is open 24 hours to its customers with waiters and chefs working round the clock to serve everyone at any part of the day. Situated in the busy street of London, the ambiance of the Cafe is dreamy with yummy food on the menu and comfortable furnitures to feel like home away from home!

Hannah and Mona are the two waitresses who work on shifts and also best friends and roomies. Both of them are artistic and have different dreams to achieve in their lives and their job as waitresses is just temporary. As the story progresses, we get to befriend several other customers who visit the Cafe, their lives and culture. My favorite character was Dan, a uni student who is currently homeless after crashing at his friend’s place for so long. At the Cafe, he meets an older friend who loves doing crossword puzzles and quickly a bond forms between them.

I loved Libby Page’s description about Stella’s Cafe giving us detour of the tiniest details on the walls, tables, chairs, kitchen and even the aprons of the staff who works there. So much life and passion in the words of the author that feels so good to read. Also, there’s something SO raw and real about the friendships and relationships portrayed in this novel and its very heartfelt that you’d actually feel for the characters. The ups and downs that occur even in the most honest of friendships! Both of them are artistic and their dreams of becoming better in their field and the struggle to achieve makes our heart ache for them.

The 24 Hour Cafe is a slow catch, not a pacy one. You’ll have to get to know each characters to enjoy the book. Although, if you’re someone like me who enjoys more conversations than narration then this novel might not be for you. I took my time with the book, snuggled up with it and easily became my bedside favorite. Many thanks to Compulsive Readers for having me on the #BlogTour and the publisher for my digital copy. All opinions are solely mine and no way biased.