Cbr16bingo Smash mystery/fantasy/romance = MysterFantsyMance
The Fox Wife is a beautiful novel that combines mystery, fantasy and romance, and even some history. Set in China and Japan in the early 20th century, its main characters deal with the pangs of first love, lost love, obsessive love, and the loss of children against a backdrop of revolution and a world in the grip of major change. Author Yangsze Choo writes at the end of this story about her personal interest in the fox legends of China and Japan and how they inspired her work. In legends, foxes are sometimes viewed as tricksters and manipulators who are sources of evil, but others see them as helpful and lucky. Fox spirits or gods can assume human form, and when they do, they can exert a powerful charisma, but this power is a double edged sword. These mythical foxes, a dying breed, must be careful in their interactions with humans or risk injury and death.
In this world, particularly northern China circa 1911, Choo tells parallel stories that we know are bound to intersect. There is the story of Bao, a 60-ish retired and widowed scholar who possesses the uncanny ability to be able to hear when people are lying. He uses this skill as an amateur private investigator hired to find the identity of a beautiful young woman found dead in the snow outside a restaurant. As he conducts his investigation, witnesses tell Bao about two strangely beautiful creatures, one male and one female, whom some believe are foxes. For Bao, this is truly fascinating information and reminds him of his childhood nurse and the little girl he used to be friends with, Tagtaa. From them Bao first learned about the fox god, and he longs to both learn more and discover the fate of Tagtaa, whom he loved and was separated from. As he conducts his investigation, Bao finds that the answers to many of his questions are tied to the beautiful young woman, and so he focuses on finding her, while at the same time feeling as is his health is failing and his own days are numbered.
The other story is that of the beautiful fox woman, whose name is Snow. We first encounter Snow as she is traveling from the northern countryside to the city on a mission to kill a photographer. Snow is out for vengeance over the death of her child, and she will not rest until she has accomplished her mission. Like other foxes, she is in fact very old, having lived already for hundreds of years, but in her human form she is young and beautiful. Snow is determined, grieving, and angry. As her story unfolds, we learn about her past and her connection to two other foxes, Shiro (white) and Kuro (black). When the three of them are together, tensions rise for reasons that the reader learns later. Snow’s travels will lead her to the service of an old woman whose grandson’s fate seems to be to die young as part of some family curse. The son is involved with some shady operators, one of whom is the fox Shiro, who enjoys causing mischief, taking people’s money and loving and leaving women. Shiro might be able to help Snow with her mission but then the matter gets more complicated when Kuro shows up. We can tell that something has happened in the past between Kuro and Snow, and that revelation is both beautiful and heartbreaking to read.
When Bao and Snow’s paths finally intersect, sparks will fly both metaphorically and literally for several characters. Choo writes about heartbreak, mental anguish, obsession, and lasting love in such a tender manner, you can’t help but want Bao and Snow especially to experience some kind of comfort and happiness after their pain. Choo also manages to skillfully combine writing about the supernatural/spiritual world with mental/emotional turmoil and the very real dangers of a patriarchal society for those who are defiant (politically, socially). I loved this story and couldn’t put it down, and when I thought about it afterwards, I was very impressed with all that Choo was able to put into this story so seamlessly.