Book cover of In a Café

Book description

On an island teeming with masters of the short story, Mary Lavin's distinct voice and devoted following set her apart. Before her death in 1996, this Irish writer had received many honors and prizes not only for her luminous short stories but also for several highly regarded novels. William Trevor…

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Why read it?

1 author picked In a Café as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This short story is one of those that has always stuck with me. There is so much story within these few pages that center around a meeting in a simple café. It explores how meetings can cause submerged feelings to arise within us and provoke us to react out of character. I was struck by the sense of loneliness and how the protagonist places certain constraints on themselves, fearful of exposing who they really are and how they feel in case of mockery. 

This story is filled with observations, judgments, and highlights the awkwardness of being a foreigner, something I…

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