I would like to thank Quercus for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Quercus

Published - Out Now

Price - £20 hardback £9.99 Kindle ebook

Some people think foxes go around collecting qi, or life force, but nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . .

Manchuria, 1908: A young woman is found frozen in the snow.

Her death is clouded by rumours of foxes, believed to lure people into peril by transforming into beautiful women and men. Bao, a detective with a reputation for sniffing 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.

Snow is a creature of many secrets, but most of all, she's a mother seeking vengeance. Hunting a murderer, the trail will take her from northern China to Japan, with Bao following doggedly behind.

And as their paths draw ever closer together, both Snow and Bao will encounter old friends and new foes, even as more deaths occur.

Some supernatural characters have such a powerful link to us they’ve stayed in our stories for centuries subtly evolving as we have to better reflect the fears and hopes of humans. Witches and Vampires can be both supernatural fears and also represent hidden desires or better aspects of our nature or being an outsider. In Yangsze Choo’s elegant and fascinating historical fantasy The Fox Wife we meet a woman who is also a Fox a character from Chinese and Eastern mythology often lined with creating trouble and the old man following her trail who doesn’t realise fate is also working hard to make these two finally meet.

It’s 1908 and in Manchuria the Empire is starting to fail. Famine, revolutionaries and hardship is rising. Snow doesn’t however care about these human issues. She beings to an ancient race of shapeshifting Foxes and she is seeking the man who killed her daughter. A mysterious photographer who loves fox fur. Who perhaps knows about the supernatural Foxes of folktales is moving ahead of her for purposes unknown. She goes through a series of disguises before finding a family who believe they may be cursed and goes under the guise of a servant but other Foxes are also close and trouble is coming.

Elsewhere is the elderly detective Bao who is hired to find a wealthy man’s woman. She has disappeared and on his trek a series of unexplained deaths occur. Bao can tell if anyone is lying a mysterious gift since childhood since his Nanny at the time bargained at a Fox Shrine and ever since Foxes appear in his life in some way or other. The trail gets nearer the end but further surprises await.

This is an engrossing tale that pulls you into the setting and structurally matches the legends of the Fox at the time a trickster like figure known for ruining relationships and sowing chaos and heading into trouble regardless. We alternate between Snow telling us her story and in third person we have Bao’s investigation with flashback to key periods in his life.

Snow is a fascinating engaging character witty, smart and determined but we feel a deep sorrow in her. Choo by having Snow’s own point of view allows us to both feel her emotions but also helps to contrast how humans see Foxes and what they’re actually like. With strength and speed as well as the ability to take life force from people she isn’t to be underestimated but she is also constrained in roles she can adopt by the society of the time that is very male orientated. She can disguise as a courtesan, a servant or a mistress she must keep her head down and not be seen too direct or people get suspicious. Yet supposedly it’s Fox Women who are the dangerous ones. There is a theme how this myth is really saying women should not get out of line or be accused of being a fox. A bit like how witches are seen as women too not knowing their place. As Snow continues we meet two very different Foxes and they also show wilder and nobler parts of the Fox myths but the interaction between all three, the sense they’ve been around a long time comes across and we know trouble is coming - that’s their inherent nature even when they know it will end in tears.

Bao (also a name linked to many folktales that were early tales of someone seeking justice) is a world weary, kind loner with a skill for working people out as well as a human lie detector. The investigation is fascinating too and as with many a detective story allowing exploration of the high and low ends of society. The rich can be greedy and corrupt; the poor can be ignored and the deaths of particularly women ignored. Choi captured a turning point period in history where China and Japan are starting to modernise but also the Imperial system is starting to collapse. Bao’s childhood shows a wealthy family; the way sons were expected to progress in exams and be told who to marry. It perhaps explain the crueller society Snow’s story shows and again makes us question who caused more trouble human or fox? Also we see Bao’s magical power and childhood have key links to Snow’s own story that makes us keen to see what happens when the two finally meet.

Structurally as a story the alternating chapters and contrasting characters complement each other. Both hunters of a sort but circling around each other. Like two spiraling arcs coming together but in this case while fate is clearly playing a hand a story of Foxes also spreads chaos and Choo neatly undercuts in the final act what we think will happen and adds a different drama to unpick. Where both Snow and Bao may either be in conflict or need to work together to unpick. The story stays true to who these characters always are but they both gain some insight into their natures and purposes in life. They’re characters I loved getting to know and their final meeting together was well worth waiting for.

The Fox Wife is a powerful intelligent historical fantasy with great storytelling and fascinating characters. I was not that familiar with the period but think it helped explain the period and the myths really well. An excellent read and strongly recommended!