The Lost Café Schindler
One Family, Two Wars, and the Search for Truth

I admire the thorough, detailed research and travel that Meriel Schindler did in order to understand and write about her family history. That strength is also a double-edged sword because it bogged down the storyline and plot. A narrative nonfiction approach may keep readers more engaged.......more

The Lost Cafe Schindler is a vivid portrayal of a family’s brushes with history, from the Jews of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the importance of cake. The memoir centres on the famous Café Schindler, launched in 1922 as an antidote to the horrors of the First World War, becoming the whirling socia......more

Really enjoyed the author’s deep dive into her family’s history. It seems like an amazing amount of research (both personal and broader) was done. Will appeal to those with an interest in early 1900s (espec. pre-WWII) central European history, café and business culture, and Jewish assimilation/refug......more

I was intensely grateful when somebody mentioned this book to me because it covers a lot of areas I'm interested in. I collect a series of books set around Innsbruck and during many of the periods that The Lost Café Schindler covers, and I also write books with a lot of cake and food references in t......more

For anyone interested in Austrian history covering the late nineteenth century to the aftermath of the Second World War, this is essential reading. The fact that it is a memoir, and not a history book, makes it all the more relevant. What Meriel Schindler uncovers in the search for the truth about h......more