BABS & AGGI: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE VEGAN.

 

BABS & AGGI: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE VEGAN by HAZEL HITCHINS.

Genre ... Women’s fiction / cosy fantasy

Publication Date ... 28th February 2025

Estimated Page Count ... 312

Standalone First Book in a series

Order Link ... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DQPXR72Z/

Aggie has reached that “certain age” – in her case, a thousand years or so, give or take a decade.

After centuries of bringing kings to their knees, running a small-town cafe isn’t how she imagined her life would pan out. Now, thanks to the machinations of the false vegan from across the road, she risks losing even that. And just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, along comes her old friend, Babs, in her House-on-chicken-legs, ready to ruffle some feathers with her unique blend of borscht, tough love and alcohol.

But everybody has a secret – the grocer who hides his loneliness behind a cheery smile, the neighbour crippled by debt and grief, and the young woman who jumps at her shadow – and before Aggie can help anyone else, she has demons of her own to lay to rest.

Can she confront her past to save her future? What is the ‘Vegan’ really hiding? Will Babs ever let her have the last word?

Raucous, rowdy, and heart-wrenching and heart-warming in equal measures, Babs and Aggie is a magical tale of love, loss and the comfort of a friendship forged through food, laughter and a LOT of slivovica.

Based {kind of} on Baba Yagga, the witch of Slavic folktales who resides in, you guessed, a house on chicken legs. Almost without exception I loved everything about this clever, witty story of century old witches living in the modern day.
Packed chock-a-block with whimsical, colourful characters {and yes, I include the house in this}, the story focusing on some of their stories whilst teasing us with other's ... in anticipation of another book? Please, please tell me there will be other books, I'd love to see further books, perhaps told from some of the other characters' points of view.
Amused that the villain of the story is a 'vegan', the comedic moments are simply sublime. And yet for all of that, the author does not shy away from serious issues, addressing forms of abuse in many of its guises; physical, mental and financial. 
All in all, a touching and engaging read that is at once fantastical and yet oddly real. So far its my favourite read of 2025.

Hazel Hitchins is a writer who spends her days having conversations with her imaginary friends, some of which she writes down. She lives in Wales with her normal family, normal(ish) cat, and entirely abnormal laundry pile.

https://www.threads.net/@hazelhitchinsauthorhttps://www.instagram.com/hazelhitchinsauthor/https://www.facebook.com/writerandcat 
With thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for organising a paper copy. One of several bloggers participating in the Publication Day Push of this book, agree or disagree with me, all opinions are my own; no financial compensation was asked for nor given; threats of violence towards my favourite teddy bear went unheeded as did promises of chocolate.

READ FOR THE 52 BOOK CLUB'S 2025 READING CHALLENGE.

{Information here}Book 8/52. PROMPT 21: CHARACTER'S NAME IN THE TITLE.Other Prompts It Might Have Been Used For ... Prompt 24: Title is a spoilerPrompt 52: Published in 2025Prompt 51: 300 - 400 pages long

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