A review by borisfeldman
Babayaga by Toby Barlow

5.0

When I was a child, the neighbor across the street was what one might politely call a "hag." Shriveled. Mean. VERY scary. We all called her "the Baba Yaga." Perhaps, I thought, that was her name. Little did I know that this was a term from Russian/Yiddish folklore about Eastern European witches. Not until I began reading stories to our children about Baba Yaga did I learn that my childhood horrors were part of a centuries-long literary tradition.

Comes now this novel. A delightful transposition of several Baba Yaga's from Russia to 1950's Paris -- mixed in with spy tales and murder mysteries. The writing is delightful. The characters engaging. You will not read another book like this this year.