Babayaga by Toby Barlow
Bewitchingly Fun Read
Babayaga by Toby Barlow is a book about an older witch out for
revenge on a younger witch, a mild American advertising man, another wound-up
American who draws the other into a shady espionage plot, and a detective who
gets caught up in the middle with outrageous consequences.
This book had me under a spell right from the
beginning. It was such a fun read that I
had a hard time putting it down. It was refreshingly imaginative with a fun and
lively narrative and unexpected plot that wound its way through the streets of
Paris in 1959. Although at times it was graphically gruesome and violent, the
book as a whole was not a dark tramp through the underworld of witches and covens. Each of the characters was unique and fully
developed so in the end I felt like I really knew and understood them. More than that, I liked them—even the evil,
sour, old, sassy hag.
I give it a high-flying thumbs-up!
This was a book club selection and our members' biggest
response was shoulder shrugs with some lukewarm
enthusiasm. Some (me) really liked it, others thought it was pretty
good to ok. One member thought it was hard to get into, and someone threw in the
word “tedious.” Everyone agreed that the "songs" were definitely worth skipping over. They added nothing but confusion.
On the other hand, everyone agreed the book was different in an intriguing kind
of way. One person said she liked the book more afterwards—not just
because it ended. She really liked Vidot, as we all did, and was
curious if or how he would be transformed back from a flea.
Happy Reading,
Annette
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