The Fox Wife: A Novel

by Yangsze Choo Narrated by Yangsze Choo

Overview

This program is read by the author.

"Choo narrates the book herself with a grace of voice and manner that is rare in authors. Further, she delivers Chinese names and phrases with the intonation of a native speaker, lending another level of authenticity to this odd and wonderful tale."-The Washington Post

"Yangsze Choo again takes on narration duties herself, and delivers an enchanting reading. Her mellifluous tone enhances the atmosphere of the slight unreality of this folktale-slash-detective story."-Booklist

“Choo narrates this richly complex novel herself, her gorgeous writing delivered in a voice that is deep and precise and lovely. . . . Her tone and words transport us.” -San Francisco Chronicle on The Night Tiger

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

11/13/2023

Choo (The Night Tiger) draws on Japanese folklore for a rich detective story involving fox spirits. In 1908 Manchuria, a fox spirit named Snow assumes a human form during her search for Bektu Nikan, a photographer responsible for her child’s death in a hunt he’d orchestrated. She takes a job as a servant for the matriarch of a medicine shop, whose grandson, Bohai, and his medical school friends have spent time with Bektu. One of the friends, Shirakawa, is also a fox and claims that Bektu fled to Japan. Bohai’s grandmother agrees to accompany Snow and the students there, unaware of the journey’s real purpose. Meanwhile, retired teacher and detective Bao Gong, who has a supernatural ability to discern lies and is fixated on fox spirits, is hired to identify a woman found dead in an alley. His investigations unveil links between the unidentified woman, Bektu, and a beautiful woman rumored to be a fox. As Bao unravels the threads of the mystery, Snow faces danger in Japan when she crosses paths with another fox she has long avoided. Choo’s writing is lush and the slow revelation of complicated relationships and reunions hum with tension. This is a treat. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

Named a Best Book of February by Time

Named a Favorite Fiction Read of 2024 by NPR

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by LitHub and BookPage

A February 2024 IndieNext Pick

A February 2024 LibraryReads pick

“Witty and suspenseful.”

–Alida Becker, The New York Times Book Review

“Like all the best supernatural stories, The Fox Wife reveals something profound about humanity: the ease with which we get drawn into chasing what we think we want, rather than what will actually nourish us. And the cruelty with which the powerful treat those under their power.”

–Charlie Jane Anders, The Washington Post

“Utterly captivating . . . . So lively and sharp-edged, it unfolds almost like an animated cartoon in your head.”

–Marion Winik, Oprah Daily

“A delicate and suspenseful detective tale, it’s perfect to savor on a wintry weekend.”

—Bethanne Patrick, The Los Angeles Times

“[An] enchanting tale of murder, revenge, and the power of a mother’s love.”

—Time

“It’s clever and observant, with twists and turns and just the perfect amount of folklore to keep you asking: What is real and what is imagined?”

—Elissa Nadworny, NPR

“Part love story, part adventure, and part mystery, The Fox Wife is an enjoyable excursion into the beliefs and life in the China of 120 years ago.”

—Michael Sears, The New York Journal of Books

“Equal parts detective story, folktale, and family saga, the highly anticipated latest novel by Choo (The Night Tiger, 2019) will appeal to fans of diverse, imaginative literary fiction, historical mysteries like Nilima Rao's A Disappearance in Fiji (2023), and fantasy like Marlon James' Dark Star trilogy.”

—Booklist (starred review)

“Choo’s writing is lush and the slow revelation of complicated relationships and reunions hum with tension. This is a treat.”

—Publishers Weekly

“The voices are compelling; the secrets are rich. . . . Layers of meaning accrue, bringing together the past and the present, mythology and personal ambition, actions and reactions, control and fate, into a fascinating tale of foxes, foes and friends.”

—BookPage

“An intriguing vulpine mystery worth the suspension of disbelief...The rich Asian tradition of fox folklore provides the backdrop for Choo’s complex and atmospheric tale of identity and discovery set in early 1900s Manchuria.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Magical, wonderous, transporting and illuminating, The Fox Wife reminds me that reading can be pure joy . . . I was captivated from the very first word of this novel until its very last. Yangsze Choo is a writer of immense talent.”

—Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, internationally best-selling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child

“A stunning story filled with wonder, mystery and folklore. I was utterly captivated by Yangsze Choo’s exquisite prose and fascinating characters from the first page till the last. A remarkable tale, one that will stay with me.”

—Sue Lynn Tan, author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess

“Like the foxes who populate its pages, The Fox Wife is vivid, enigmatic, and enchanting. Choo's fresh new fable conjures a world where danger and intrigue are forever entwined with sublime and sensory delights."

—M.L. Rio, author of If We Were Villains

“The Fox Wife is a rich tangle of myth, mystery, and history, delivered with Choo's inimitable grace and precision. It's not a book so much as a beguilement; it enchanted me entirely.”

—Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House

“Masterfully plotted and superbly surprising, The Fox Wife will entice you into a world of magic and heartbreak, a beautiful tapestry woven from love and revenge and forgiveness. Beware: once you start, you may not be able to put it down!”

—Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of Independence and The Last Queen

“Choo weaves yet another enthralling tale and, this time, it’s a glimpse of the immortal lives of foxes. Her prose is lush as ever and Snow is a captivating lens of emotions and magic.”

—Roselle Lim, author of Sophie Go's Lonely Hearts Club

Library Journal

★ 05/24/2024

A detective is searching for the identity of a dead woman, while a grieving fox is hunting for the man who killed her baby. As each focuses on their own pursuit, they close in relentlessly on each other and on a present that reaches back into a misty past that neither wants to remember but can't avoid. When her aging mistress turns out to be his childhood love, her desire for revenge sets off a chain of deaths that threatens to burn them all to cinders. This bittersweet tale of magical realism and historical fantasy blends a detective story with a mythic fever dream of fox spirits, dying magic, lost love and found hope, and burgeoning revolution, as too much magic interferes in the lives of seemingly ordinary people who have no defenses against the chaos agents running rampant in their midst. VERDICT Highly recommended for readers of fantasy mysteries, fans of Elsa Hart's Jade Dragon Mountain, and anyone who enjoys stories of unreliable narrators where magic is hidden in plain sight. Choo's (The Night Tiger) latest is magical, lyrical, and utterly compelling.—Marlene Harris

FEBRUARY 2024 - AudioFile

Author and narrator Yangsze Choo gently narrates this fantasy audiobook about foxes that can transform into dazzlingly beautiful humans. Bao has the ability to tell truths from lies and has been tasked with solving a murder mystery that might involve foxes. Meanwhile, Snow has taken human form and gets a job as a servant, all to aid her in avenging the death of her child. Choo combines folklore and legends about foxes from several sources, which she explains in her author's note at the end. She narrates in a British accent, and her performance is intimate and exciting due to its quiet intensity, though listeners might occasionally struggle to differentiate among characters with dialogue. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2023-11-18
The rich Asian tradition of fox folklore provides the backdrop for Choo’s complex and atmospheric tale of identity and discovery set in early 1900s Manchuria.

Snow (later also referred to as Ah San) narrates the story of her search for a shadowy figure—the photographer Bektu Nikan—during the waning days of the Qing dynasty. She crosses Manchuria and travels to Japan in her efforts to locate the man she believes is responsible for the death of her very young daughter. Snow’s slow reveal of her trek and travails is often whimsical or wry and is particularly informative about the habits and practices of the shape-shifting foxes who are believed to appear in human form. Quite reasonably, this knowledge is derived from Snow’s own experiences…as a fox. Running on an eventual collision course is the slowly evolving story of a private investigator, the aging Bao, whose initial assignment is to determine the identity of a woman whose body was found frozen and dead outside a restaurant. As he follows the scant clues in that case, he becomes more and more enmeshed in circumstances that lead him into the orbit of Snow and her growing posse of humans and foxes. (Events in Bao’s early childhood have encouraged his belief in the presence of human-seeming foxes and have also left him with the personally and professionally helpful ability to discern when a lie is being told.) As the circuitous and alternating stories unfold and begin to converge, coincidence and historical events play out. Snow’s difficulties as both a fox and a young woman in a man’s world are clearly drawn, as is the pathos of Bao’s situation as a gentle soul who’s always been in search of something or someone.

An intriguing vulpine mystery worth the suspension of disbelief.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159785732
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	02/13/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	455,979

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