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A review by ioannap_author
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
"The Fox Wife" by Yangsze Choo is a beautiful story of longing revenge, second chances, and grief. We follow two characters as their individual journeys bring their respective stories closer to each other, chapter by chapter. The first one is narrated by Snow, a fox spirit, who is attempting to locate and kill a photographer who she blames for her child's death. Meanwhile, the second narrative follows Bao, a private investigator who is tasked to identify a mysterious courtesan who was found frozen to death one night. The dual POVs are a mix of first and third-person narratives, which I thoroughly enjoyed as a format.
I have often said that the books that make the deepest impact on me are those I take longer to read. "The Fox Wife" is one of those books. It took me nearly two weeks to finish because it was so full of messages, and it had much to teach me. It didn’t feel like that when I was reading, but after I stopped and considered all it offered me, my mind needed time. Part of the learning was the lore and history of a part of the world that I know very little about. The story in early 1900s, Manchuria and the characters travel to Japan for a while, too. It gave me a tiny window into women's history of that time, their rights and difficulties, the objectification of courtesans who are bound to prostitution by debt and the revolutionary ideas that began bubbling at that time. All of these led me to my own research on Chinese history.
The folklore part of the book was more familiar to me, but I had never read a book about foxes. I thought the choice of the narrative and associations made between the female foxes, who can transform into extraordinary beautiful women, and courtesans was fascinating. Beautiful girls were lured into traps by handsome men, who promised them marriage and a family, only to betray them by selling them to prostitution. Foxes are hunted by men for their beauty, too, and their lore is filled with stories of horrible seductresses who destroy men's sanity. Putting these together brought me to one question: Why is female beauty vilified? The beautiful men who seduce girls away from their families are never judged in the story. The male foxes, equally maddeningly attractive, escape it too.
This hunting of women is how Snow's story begins, as a man approaches her, tries to befriend her for the purpose of selling her. Snow herself comments how his expression worsens as she reveals information about herself and lowers her market value.
The hunt never stops either. Even Bao is hunting for a woman, first to identify the dead courtesan's identity, then to locate another mysterious courtesan who disappeared from a mansion, leaving a desperate man behind her, and above all for Tagtaa, his childhood sweetheart, who was taken out of his life so violently.
"The Fox Wife" is full of reflections. One that I especially loved was the mirroring between Tagtaa's reconnection with Bao and Snow's with Kuro. Although different circumstances separated them, we saw two love stories that had been violently severed, but fate brought them back together. It is such a hopeful message that these second chances are allowed, at least in fiction and, sometimes, in real life, too.
The book has many side characters and plots, and I personally appreciate that the reader doesn't get to see all of their resolutions. The secondary character that I personally enjoyed exploring the most was Shiro, the white male fox who crosses paths with Snow and is most likely the reason the courtesan that Bao tries to identify froze to death. His story is also one of longing love and family, even though his desire for them is shallow. His loneliness pulses all around him. He is surrounded by people who don't understand him, and he sees no value in any of them. His devoid of emotions encounters have exhausted him, but that same element also stops him from trying to change his ways and find more meaningful relationships. Snow and Tagtaa's relationship is an example that there can be deeper emotional connections between foxes and humans.
A beautifully written novel! An endearing story of longing, second chances, and the journey of grief and reconciliation.
I have often said that the books that make the deepest impact on me are those I take longer to read. "The Fox Wife" is one of those books. It took me nearly two weeks to finish because it was so full of messages, and it had much to teach me. It didn’t feel like that when I was reading, but after I stopped and considered all it offered me, my mind needed time. Part of the learning was the lore and history of a part of the world that I know very little about. The story in early 1900s, Manchuria and the characters travel to Japan for a while, too. It gave me a tiny window into women's history of that time, their rights and difficulties, the objectification of courtesans who are bound to prostitution by debt and the revolutionary ideas that began bubbling at that time. All of these led me to my own research on Chinese history.
The folklore part of the book was more familiar to me, but I had never read a book about foxes. I thought the choice of the narrative and associations made between the female foxes, who can transform into extraordinary beautiful women, and courtesans was fascinating. Beautiful girls were lured into traps by handsome men, who promised them marriage and a family, only to betray them by selling them to prostitution. Foxes are hunted by men for their beauty, too, and their lore is filled with stories of horrible seductresses who destroy men's sanity. Putting these together brought me to one question: Why is female beauty vilified? The beautiful men who seduce girls away from their families are never judged in the story. The male foxes, equally maddeningly attractive, escape it too.
This hunting of women is how Snow's story begins, as a man approaches her, tries to befriend her for the purpose of selling her. Snow herself comments how his expression worsens as she reveals information about herself and lowers her market value.
The hunt never stops either. Even Bao is hunting for a woman, first to identify the dead courtesan's identity, then to locate another mysterious courtesan who disappeared from a mansion, leaving a desperate man behind her, and above all for Tagtaa, his childhood sweetheart, who was taken out of his life so violently.
"The Fox Wife" is full of reflections. One that I especially loved was the mirroring between Tagtaa's reconnection with Bao and Snow's with Kuro. Although different circumstances separated them, we saw two love stories that had been violently severed, but fate brought them back together. It is such a hopeful message that these second chances are allowed, at least in fiction and, sometimes, in real life, too.
The book has many side characters and plots, and I personally appreciate that the reader doesn't get to see all of their resolutions. The secondary character that I personally enjoyed exploring the most was Shiro, the white male fox who crosses paths with Snow and is most likely the reason the courtesan that Bao tries to identify froze to death. His story is also one of longing love and family, even though his desire for them is shallow. His loneliness pulses all around him. He is surrounded by people who don't understand him, and he sees no value in any of them. His devoid of emotions encounters have exhausted him, but that same element also stops him from trying to change his ways and find more meaningful relationships. Snow and Tagtaa's relationship is an example that there can be deeper emotional connections between foxes and humans.
A beautifully written novel! An endearing story of longing, second chances, and the journey of grief and reconciliation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment