The Fox Wife: A Novel

Yangsze Choo

Feb 2024 · Sold by Henry Holt and Company

About this ebook

Some people think foxes are similar to ghosts because we go around collecting qi, but nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . .

Manchuria, 1908.
In the last years of the dying Qing Empire, a courtesan is found frozen in a doorway. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and handsome men. Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman’s identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they’ve remained tantalizingly out of reach—until, perhaps, now.

Meanwhile, a family who owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments but can’t escape the curse that afflicts them—their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. When a disruptively winsome servant named Snow enters their household, the family’s luck seems to change—or does it?

Snow is a creature of many secrets, but most of all she’s a mother seeking vengeance for her lost child. Hunting a murderer, she will follow the trail from northern China to Japan, while Bao follows doggedly behind. Navigating the myths and misconceptions of fox spirits, both Snow and Bao will encounter old friends and new foes, even as more deaths occur.

New York Times bestselling author Yangsze Choo brilliantly explores a world of mortals and spirits, humans and beasts, and their dazzling intersection. Epic in scope and full of singular, unforgettable characters, The Fox Wife is a stunning novel about old loves and second chances, the depths of maternal love, and ancient folktales that may very well be true.

Ratings and reviews

Foxes have figured heavily in Chinese folklore for centuries, and Choo crafts her own story with three different foxes, mixed in with a mystery/detective story.

Great book! I enjoyed learning about northern Chinese folklore and foxes. I really enjoyed the characters. Excellent descriptive writing so I could really visualize the story. The story had a very calm/slow pace. I enjoyed stopping to reflect every few chapters so it took me longer to read than I would have expected.

I enjoyed. The pacing was solid. It didn't get boring, but it also didn't run you ragged and allowed thinking moments. The characters were very believable. The world building/fantastic elements retained internal consistency as well as being not solidly pinned down and so retaining that mythical feel. The depiction of grief hit hard and felt true. .......Spoilers ........ I was sure for a while that the story would descend into destruction and chaos and a mix of the typical Korean style inevitably suicide or Romeo and Juliet tragedy of futility dying over lack of communication. ...it had earmarks that it could go there. And yet it managed to pull off a happy/healing end for all the characters I most cared. That was unexpectedly delicious.

About the author

Yangsze Choo is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghost Bride (now a Netflix original series) and The Night Tiger, a Reese’s Book Club Pick, and a Big Jubilee Read selection for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. She lives in California with her family and loves to eat and read (often at the same time). The Fox Wife and all previous novels would not have been possible without large quantities of dark chocolate.

Yangsze is happy to visit book clubs via Zoom! You can find her on her website, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.