Foxes are foxes, to be sure, but they can also present themselves as humans. They tend to be beautiful or handsome, and humans in their presence can become somewhat confused about what just happened. Some are tricksters by nature, while others are quite serious. And many just enjoy living among humans.
Snow is not one of the later. She is out for revenge. She had left her child, curled up in a barrow in the snow while she went hunting, and while she was gone, a hunter killed the young foxling for her pelt. Foxes don’t have offspring easily, and this has hurt her deeply. As she tracks down the killer, she encounters two male foxes that have reason to be in the human world as well; Shiro, a handsome man who delights in causing mischief, and Kuro, older and wiser.
As they travel in the 1920s Manchuria, northern China, and Japan, their paths intersect with a pair of humans. Bao and Tagtaa, both children when they met, grew up running wild in the grasses of Manchuria, and dedicating small shrines to the foxes. But Tagtaa was the daughter of a servant, so the time came when she was sent away to be married to an appropriate man. Bao, meanwhile, had developed a certain gift of always knowing when he was hearing a lie. This gave him a career as a detective, but made finding love difficult. All these pieces fit together in the end.
A wonderful wintertime’s tale.