The Fox Wife

You might like this book if you liked…

• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• The Library of Legends by Janie Chang
• Circe by Madeline Miller

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. In no way did this affect my review or my rating of the novel.

The Fox Wife is a fantasy novel about a detective named Bao, who was left with a magical ability to detect lies ever since an encounter with a fox god in his youth. After a courtesan is found dead in a doorway in the middle of the winter, Bao begins pursuing rumors of a mysterious and attractive woman who might be a shape-shifting fox. Unbeknownst to Bao, he is in pursuit of a fox called Ah San who is hunting the man who is guilty of her child’s death a few years earlier. Ah San is still overcome with grief over her child’s death, and finds herself disillusioned with the the humans and foxes she meets in her mission for revenge.

I absolutely loved the characters in this novel – Ah San and the other foxes in this book felt almost entirely human, but I loved how the author captured their magic through their interactions with others. It was easy to believe them to be supernatural, when the humans around them are so quick to become fascinated or enamored or enraged by their presence, and in the rare moments when Ah San explains how she manipulates the humans around her, her power is subtle but chilling. Bao might actually be my favorite character though. By the time we reach the “present day” of the novel, Bao is an old man who has lived a long and relatively unsatisfying life, but he has come to terms with that life, and is content to earn a modest salary and uncover the mostly ordinary truths around him. However, Bao is still left with an obsession with foxes after his foggy childhood memories, and this interest often drives his investigations more than the mysteries themselves. It’s an odd thing to strive for, but I loved rooting for Bao to finally meet a fox, and hoping that he would understand once he did.

This book covers some emotionally challenging topics, from childhood love and enamorment, to grief after a loss, to the flawed patriarchy of imperial China. However, the author manages to approach these heavy subjects with tact and lightheartedness by weaving the discussions into the narrative and the characters’ personal development, rather than making a broad, aggressive statement in the text itself. I think this more subtle approach is the reason why I finished the book feeling like it was more lighthearted than not.

In all, I’ll give The Fox Wife a 9 out of 10. Everything in this novel was well done, from the complex, dynamic characters to an interesting setting rooted in folklore, to a slow-paced but engrossing plot. I think most readers will love this one.