"The Fox Wife" by Yangsze Choo
Review by Mary Lim, Library Assistant, Pioneer Park
Part mystery, part revenge quest and part reflection on finding one’s place in the world, Yangsze Choo’s third novel, "The Fox Wife," blends historical fiction with the supernatural. Set in Manchuria and Japan in 1908, the story follows a fox spirit hunting a human man who wronged her. It is a time of political and technological revolution, and Choo’s evocative descriptions bring the setting to life. 
The author draws on Chinese and Japanese folklore about fox spirits, imagining them as very long-lived creatures who are removed from human culture but inevitably end up involved in their affairs. Curious, cunning, mischievous – and occasionally virtuous – they may help or hinder the people in their orbit while inspiring the creation of legends.
The novel alternates between two point-of-view characters. Snow, the eponymous fox spirit, can easily assume the form of a seemingly young woman, which belies her age and experience. She speaks to the reader in lively, first-person narration. She proves to be resourceful and quick-witted, especially when her quest brings her into the path of a pair of foxes from her past.
Bao, on the other hand, is an aging detective trying to discover the identity of a dead woman. An encounter with a fox god in childhood has remained fixed in his mind, and as one mystery branches out into several more, he begins to suspect that foxes must be involved. His character is much more reserved than Snow; he is patient and kind, unerringly honest, and prone to reflections upon his youth.
As the narrative progresses, the author offers clues to how the plotlines connect before they converge satisfyingly in the final chapters of the book. The dual perspective allows the reader to explore the interwoven events from different angles and see how humans and foxes shape each other’s lives. Ultimately, what begins as a quest for revenge becomes instead a journey of letting go of past resentment and misunderstandings in order to find happiness in the present.