Tracy Fenton – Thank you for adding me to the blog tour for The 24 Hour Cafe – its been a pleasure to read, I have really enjoyed being back in Libby’s world.
THE 24-HOUR CAFÉ is about community, friendship, belonging and never giving up on your dreams.
Day and night Stella’s Café opens its doors for the lonely and the lost, the morning people and the night owls. It is many things to many people but most of all it is a place where life can wait at the door. A place of small kindnesses. A place where anyone can be whoever they want, where everyone is always welcome.
Meet Hannah and Mona: best friends, waitresses, dreamers. They work at Stella’s but they dream of more, of leaving the café behind and making their own way in life.
Come inside and spend twenty-four hours at Stella’s Café; a day when Hannah and Mona’s friendship will be tested, when the community will come together and when lives will be changed . . .
Our Author: Libby Page
LIBBY PAGE is the author of the SUNDAY TIMES bestseller and runaway success of 2018, THE LIDO. THE LIDO has sold in over twenty territories around the world and film rights have been sold to Catalyst Global Media.
After writing, Libby’s second passion is outdoor swimming. Libby lives in London where she enjoys finding new swimming spots and pockets of community within the city. She and her sister run a blog and Instagram account @theswimmingsisters, documenting their swims and the benefits of outdoor exercise for mental health.
My Review: The 24 Hour Cafe
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.
To buy The 24 Hour Cafe – https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Libby-Page/The-24-Hour-Cafe–An-uplifting-story-about-female-friends/24235385
@libbypagewrites @orionbooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n #24HourCafe
