An utterly original, dazzling novel about a mother seeking revenge, a nameless dead body looking for a final resting place, and old folklore tales that might very well be true.
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 rumors of foxes, believed to lure people 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.
Meanwhile, the family of a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments except the curse that afflicts them, their eldest sons die before their 24th birthdays. Now the only grandson of the family is 23. When a mysterious woman enters their household, their luck seems to change. Or does it? Is their new servant a simple young woman from the north, or a fox spirit bent on her own revenge?
New York Times bestselling author Yangsze Choo brilliantly explores a world of mortals and spirits, humans and beasts, and their dazzling intersection. “The Fox Wife” is a stunning novel about dead bodies found in the snow, a mother seeking revenge, and old folk tales that may very well be true.
