Mr. Seethaler’s quietly beguiling eighth novel, “The Café With No Name,” is his most uplifting to date. It spans a decade—1966-76—in the life of an unassuming young man named Robert Simon.

Nontra Yantaprasert couldn’t wait to take her husband’s shorter and easier-to-pronounce last name. She didn’t know what kinds of problems it would cause. His last name is Null, the same word ...