Such a creative concept: fictionalized ongoing conversations by an assortment of regulars frequenting The Café with Five Faces-the author Chaelli Cattlin’s actual bricks and mortar Café in Hebden Bridge, UK.
There are five rooms in his café, each named for one of Cattlin’s favorite cities visited in his lengthy stays around the world: Granada, Beirut, Cape Town, Budapest, and Hebden Bridge- each designed to appeal to the patrons’ conversational interests with city specific vibes, decor, coffee, tea and victuals.
So begins the storytelling as regulars and others relate and discuss their experiences and opinions on a variety of topics, with heavy emphasis on politics, politicians and relationships, romantic and otherwise.
It was captivating in the beginning, clever, and at times insightful, and the details of coffee and tea making and accompanying foods of the varied cultures were informative. The featured photographs by the author at the end of each chapter were appealing, as was the plus of additional city photographs accessible through a website link.
It was sometimes hard to maintain interest as the characters’ oddities, relationship frustrations and woes, and back and forth on politics, mostly focused on the UK and USA, began to feel repetitive..
The conversations take place from 2018 to the end of 2019, with an Epilogue referencing the seismic changes in local and world community in real time 2020.
The book was a fresh and ambitious undertaking, and perhaps The Café with Five Faces will once again open for business.