Book Review: The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

It’s so nice when you pick up a book expecting to enjoy it and it lives up to all of your expectations. I was very hopeful for The Fox Wife as it had a lot that gave it points in my mind: 1) Historical fiction, 2) Magic realism, 3) Chinese history and mythology, and 4) I enjoyed the author’s previous novel (see my review of The Night Tiger).

The story follows two characters – Bao, a sixty-something widowed detective who is tasked with finding out the true identity of a deceased woman, and a mysterious woman who goes by the name of Snow and is attempting to track a Mongolian photographer. We alternate between the third person perspective of Bao and Snow’s first person perspective. We learn about Bao’s childhood and his unusual capabilities and we learn about Snow’s history and why she is so bent on finding this man. The stories dovetail nicely and although the characters don’t meet until late in the novel, it never feels like they’re being kept unnecessarily apart. Their stories both feel connected and individual.

The setting is Manchuria in 1908 and partly in Japan as well. The timeframe works well because we have China at the end of an Empire and on the cusp of growing modernity. We have things like trains but most people still live simply and traditionally. There is consistent overlap of old and new, from medicine to mythology.

I don’t want to give too much away as I feel like this is a book that benefits from not knowing too much before you begin. There’s a bit of a mystery and there’s a lot of magic and if you’re willing to throw yourself in as a reader, I think you’ll find it worth your time.