Secret Diary of a Lockdown Mum writer is back with new book

The Basildon mum’s latest offering is Believe, a children and young adult book.

It tells the story of Abigale Johnson, who is born a ‘Never-Believer’, in a world full of greyness. No Christmases, no birthdays, no smiling and no magic. That all changes with a fateful train journey when Abigale is catapulted into the world of the ‘Believer Fae’.

There she meets a holographic professor, hop aboard an enchanted train, makes new magical best friends, combined with the tinkering of first love, a wicked queen and a host of lost family secrets, make it an enchanting read.

She said: “It is a beautiful story of friendship told in the most magical way. Young and old will love this story and will want to be transported onto the believer train.”

Angie, whose passions are her children, writing and fitness, is the daughter of Geraldine Evans, who used to run the old Barge Inn, in Vange.

Geraldine was one of the town heroes on its 70th anniversary for all the charitable work she did in her lifetime, as well as being a local magistrate and a major part of business community.

Angie herself donated all the profits from the book The Secret Diary of a Lockdown Mum to the NHS in recognition of the amazing work done throughout the pandemic and beyond.

At the time the book came out Angie told the Echo: “School mums who I never talk to said they enjoyed the book and it made them laugh. It’s also about having more camaraderie and giving the royalties to the NHS and giving them support.

“I used lots of experiences for inspiration – there were some days it was driving me nuts. I found writing was a good emotional release.

“I decided it would be good to have it in a diary style like Bridget Jones by starting every entry with how many glasses of wine and how many times I get called mum - which is about 7,000 a day.”

Believe is the first novel in the series, which has been written to be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Believe by Angie Bailey is out now.