Hannah Cao’s debut novel, Cafe At 46 Old Street, is a story about found family, forgiveness, finding yourself and your identity as well as the growth and freedom that result from that. Hannah is a barista by day and writer by night, having previously published a poetry collection in 2020 (Seashore) she worked towards self-publishing this contemporary novel.

The book is told from four alternating points of view. One for each main protagonist in the story. Clementine, a coffee shop owner who will have to fight to keep it afloat. Alex, the coffee shop baker who harbours a lot of secrets and anxieties with his quiet demeanour. Winston, a bartender and regular at the Cafe with many personal struggles and who often  doesn’t feel good enough. And Hanh, who has just moved by herself to London to start a new life and finds comfort in the café and its people. Strangers that become close and form bonds that will change their lives and will help them become more who they truly are without any fear.

Hannah’s writing is very poetic, which makes sense considering the author also writes poetry beautifully. There are a lot of touching scenes and lines that will tug at the reader’s heartstrings. It has that Ghibli slice-of-life feel, with London and its streets as the background setting which makes it all the more wonderful. You can tell this is a love letter to the city.

The characters are all very real and multidimensional. Each of them has a very distinct personality with their very own worries and troubles. They’re very likable and easy to relate to. The different points of views are very well executed since they allow us to know the characters on a deeper level. Even the side characters are very nicely written and it’s easy to like them as well. As the story moves forward one can see very well the connections and bonds that the characters share, this found family feel that does not fail to bring warmth and a sense of belonging. It ‘s inspiring. All the characters also have great character development by the end of the book, which is always very much appreciated.

Through each character the author touches on different topics like: becoming oneself, forgiveness, personal growth, and much more. And each is dealt with so much honesty and in a very tactful manner. However, the only “if” is that you will want more from them when you close the book, some topics could’ve been explored more but that’s probably just due to the limitations of the format. Ultimately, nothing is lacking, it’s just that need for more.

The book also deals with some heavy themes like grief, homophobia, and alcoholism (definitely check all the trigger warnings before reading) but the author did a great job in doing them justice without glorifying nor romanticising them. They were well represented.

All in all, Cafe At 46 Old Street, is a very heartfelt, touching, and comforting read. A solid debut that carries a lot of potential for future publications from the author.

Cafe At 46 Old Street is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and the author’s own Etsy page.

Will you be picking up Cafe At 46 Old Street? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Sometimes all you really need is a place to call home.

Hanh arrives in London with nothing but her sketchbook and her journal. She is starry-eyed at the idea of starting a new life in the city of opportunities— where she is no longer forced to sit at Friday dinners with her father’s new wife and kids, and where, on the down-side, she is no longer with her first love.

Winston has always been a little out-of-sync. As if to prove how disappointing he looks next to his Golden brother, he just dropped out of university and, on top of that, was dumped by his girlfriend over text. Living a life of dark espresso without the sugar, he is struggling to find a role in his own life.

Clementine is a quirky rarity, a splash of nosy and a cup of eccentric, destined to be the driving force of her parents’ otherwise sleepy coffee shop —if she doesn’t lose it to the looming competition threatening her eviction.

Alexander grew up unable to fit in, having moved from Italy to London with his overachieving mother at a young age and constantly changing schools. His quiet nature is a curtain to his fears, but his delightful tarts are a reflection of how others feel about him.

From the outside, their lives are simple: they’re a group of an overjoyed newbie, a strictly sober bartender, an exuberant coffee shop owner and a quiet baker trying to find their place in the world. But still waters run deep in the Cafe At 46 Old Street, so when reality comes catching up to them, threatening their routine and crumbling their lofty walls, their lives are changed in the matter of a year.

Will they find their way back home?

Trigger Warnings
Memory loss caused by alcoholism (mention of consumption, off-page), Hospitalisation, Anxiety, Divorce, Grief, Off-page death of a grandparent in a character‘s past, Homophobia (no slurs or attacks), Sexual content: off-page and vague, Bullying in a character’s past (no violence, no slurs)

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In this interview, we talked with Hannah about her writing process, her favourite parts to write, upcoming projects, and so much more! Don’t miss out on this emotional and heartfelt debut!

Hello Hannah! First of all thank you for joining us and congratulations on your debut novel! Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Thank you for having me! I’m a Vietnamese-German poet and novelist based in Germany and when people ask me what I write about, I find that I can summarise it very well by saying that I am fascinated by people and places, thus I write about people and places, and everything in between. I work two jobs – I’m a barista and also a hotel receptionist by day. I read in my breaks and on my way to work and back home, and I spend my nights watching films and writing. Growing up in Germany, having lived a while in England, and spending summers in Vietnam, I have always felt like I belonged to three different places – or these places have stolen parts of me so I am left with a constant sense of yearning.

Now, tell us more about Cafe at 46 Old Street! What can readers expect?

I like to describe my debut novel as a love letter to London, written in four POVs, about a cafe owner, a baker, a barkeeper and the new regular who meet in this Soho Cafe at 46 Old Street and end up changing each other’s lives. It’s a character driven story and best read with a cup of tea in a cosy setting.

What sparked you to bring this story to the page?

My love for London, clearly, and my urge to write something comforting for the everyday people. The people who feel like they should do more. The people who feel scared to take a leap. The people who are too scared to fail. The people who feel too different.

Cafe at 46 Old Street is your debut novel. What’s been your favourite part about the writing and (self)publishing process so far?

I’ve always liked to romanticise places and appreciate a city filled to the brim with all different kinds of people with their own stories, and all the possibilities their lives could change in that very setting. Writing CA46OS, I could gush about my favourite city, part of myself, and bring its charm to the page as the backdrop to each of the characters’ lives. It was sort of an ode to London, but also an exploration of different themes I wanted to touch on. So the freedom of writing in any genre I like, and the freedom that comes with self-publishing, really made this experience feel like a passionate act rather than a job. That’s been my favourite part.

Could you tell us what challenges you faced and how you overcame them?

The biggest and most frequent challenge was impostor syndrome, for sure. I’m not traditionally published, so I went extra hard on myself when drafting, and editing. There was a lot of revision until I finally felt content. But these characters made me feel warm, and I thought, if this is what the story will make my readers feel, it will all be worth it. The feedback from my beta readers and encouragement coming from my loved ones definitely kept me going and in high spirits.

How did writing this story differ from your writing process of your prior poetry publications like Seashore?

SEASHORE is a collection of poems I had written over the years prior to 2019, about my life and love life in London, my childhood and growing up, about identity and self-acceptance, about falling out of and in love. It was a very personal collection and a liberating experience.

My writing process for CAFE AT 46 OLD STREET was very different as the characters and their issues and conflicts and personalities are fictional and entirely their own. I had to make up a plot, and dialogues, you know, and while in SEASHORE I wrote to be honest, in the novel I wrote hoping readers could fall in love with the atmospheres and the characters themselves. I wrote not to reflect on my life, but I wrote to create a comfort place for other people (it just happened to become one for me, too).

Each character has a very unique personality and each has their own share of insecurities and struggles.Without spoiling too much, what was your favourite character and moment to write?

It is very hard to choose a character I loved writing the most, because I very much enjoyed every POV. I do have a soft spot for the friendship between Clementine and Alex, though.

If you could recommend a book that matched Hanh, Winston, Clementine, and Alex’s personalities, which ones would they be?

• Winston – The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
• Hanh – Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
• Alex – On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
• Clementine – The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Do you have any book recs for us? What have your favourite reads of 2021 been?

My favourite books that did not necessarily come out last year, but I read last year, have been:

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
• Almond by Won-pyong Sohn
• If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

And lastly, you’ve written on social media that you’re working on other novels, without giving any spoilers, is there anything you can tell us about them?

I don’t mind giving away what they will be about early on.

I’m currently working on two projects:

1. THE PHAM GIRLS: Elliott Harvey comes home one day to find his partner, Irene Pham, and his three daughters missing. Nobody knows what happened to the Pham girls… until now, now that Elliott is dead. (Contemporary; written in interview style.)
2. PERSONA: At Youdu Academy, seven students are cursed with flashbacks to their previous lives. Realising they are connected, they race against time to prevent a dark fate that they can’t seem to escape. (Dark academia, Asian mythology; it’s looking like this one will become a trilogy.)

I’m thinking of another poetry collection, but I want to put a lot of thought into its themes and topics before revealing anything else (for now).

Will you be picking up Cafe at 46 Old Street? Tell us in the comments below!

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