The Fox Wife: an enchanting historical mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger and a previous Reeses Book Club pick

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Longlisted for the Historical Writers' Association Gold Crown Award

'Vivid, enigmatic, enchanting' M. L. Rio

'Irresistible' Sunday Times

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.

The Fox Wife is a stunning novel about old loves and second chances, the depth of maternal bonds, and ancient folktales that may very well be true.

PRAISE FOR THE FOX WIFE

'Poetic and evocative' Good Housekeeping

'Magical, wondrous, transporting and illuminating' Nguyn Phan Qu Mai

'Rich and beguiling' Daily Mail

'Filled with wonder, mystery and folklore' Sue Lynn Tan

'Enchanting' the i

'A rich tangle of myth, mystery, and history' Alix E. Harrow

Reviews

The reader is taken on a journey from the underbelly of a Chinese town to the mountains of Japan. Among the more memorable characters along the way is a male fox spirit called Shiro. He is seductive, deadly and, like the book itself, quite irresistible to mere humans * Sunday Times *
Like the foxes who populate its pages, The Fox Wife is vivid, enigmatic, and enchanting. Choo's fresh new fable conjures a world where danger and intrigue are forever entwined with sublime and sensory delights * M.L. Rio, author of IF WE WERE VILLAINS *
Rich and beguiling * Daily Mail *
A stunning story filled with wonder, mystery and folklore. I was utterly captivated by Yangsze Choo's exquisite prose and fascinating characters from the first page till the last. A remarkable tale, one that will stay with me * Sue Lynn Tan, author of Heart of the Sun Warrior *
Witty and suspenseful * New York Times Book Review *
Poetic and evocative * Good Housekeeping *
Enchanting * The i *
Magical, wonderous, transporting and illuminating, The Fox Wife reminds me that reading can be pure joy . . . I was captivated from the very first word of this novel until its very last. Yangsze Choo is a writer of immense talent * Nguyen Phan Que Mai, internationally best-selling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child *
Masterfully plotted and superbly surprising, The Fox Wife will entice you into a world of magic and heartbreak, a beautiful tapestry woven from love and revenge and forgiveness. But beware: once you start, you may not be able to put it down! -- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of INDEPENDENCE and THE LAST QUEEN
The Fox Wife is a rich tangle of myth, mystery, and history, delivered with Choo's inimitable grace and precision. It's not a book so much as a beguilement; it enchanted me entirely -- Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of STARLING HOUSE
Choo's writing is lush and the slow revelations of complicated relationships and reunions hum with tension. This is a treat * Publishers Weekly *
Snow's difficulties as both a fox and a young woman in a man's world are clearly drawn, as is the pathos of Bao's situation as a gentle soul who's always been in search of something or someone. An intriguing vulpine mystery worth the suspension of disbelief * Kirkus *
A beguiling tale of a bygone era * Straits Times *
Stunning . . . Choo's exquisite prose is perfectly matched to an enthralling story that is filled with magic, beauty, cruelty, and the slow unwinding of a double-layered mystery, but also comes star-dusted with an unexpected exuberance and flashes of dark humour * Lancashire Evening Post *
With deftness of pen and a keen eye for evocative detail, Choo crafts an intoxicating tale * Hot Press *
Like all the best supernatural stories, The Fox Wife reveals something profound about humanity: the ease with which we get drawn into chasing what we think we want, rather than what will actually nourish us. And the cruelty with which the powerful treat those under their power * The Washington Post *
Utterly captivating . . . . So lively and sharp-edged * Oprah Daily *
A delicate and suspenseful detective tale, it's perfect to savor on a wintry weekend * Los Angeles Times *
[An] enchanting tale of murder, revenge, and the power of a mother's love * Time *
Choo weaves yet another enthralling tale and, this time, it's a glimpse of the immortal lives of foxes. Her prose is lush as ever and Snow is a captivating lens of emotions and magic * Roselle Lim *
The voices are compelling; the secrets are rich . . . Layers of meaning accrue, bringing together the past and the present, mythology and personal ambition, actions and reactions, control and fate, into a fascinating tale of foxes, foes and friends * BookPage *
Part love story, part adventure, and part mystery, The Fox Wife is an enjoyable excursion into the beliefs and life in the China of 120 years ago * The New York Journal of Books *
The reader is taken on a journey from the underbelly of a Chinese town to the mountains of Japan. Among the more memorable characters along the way is a male fox spirit called Shiro. He is seductive, deadly and, like the book itself, quite irresistible to mere humans * Sunday Times *
Like the foxes who populate its pages, The Fox Wife is vivid, enigmatic, and enchanting. Choo's fresh new fable conjures a world where danger and intrigue are forever entwined with sublime and sensory delights * M.L. Rio, author of IF WE WERE VILLAINS *
Rich and beguiling * Daily Mail *
A stunning story filled with wonder, mystery and folklore. I was utterly captivated by Yangsze Choo's exquisite prose and fascinating characters from the first page till the last. A remarkable tale, one that will stay with me * Sue Lynn Tan, author of Heart of the Sun Warrior *
Witty and suspenseful * New York Times Book Review *
Poetic and evocative * Good Housekeeping *
Enchanting * The i *
Magical, wonderous, transporting and illuminating, The Fox Wife reminds me that reading can be pure joy . . . I was captivated from the very first word of this novel until its very last. Yangsze Choo is a writer of immense talent * Nguyen Phan Que Mai, internationally best-selling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child *
Masterfully plotted and superbly surprising, The Fox Wife will entice you into a world of magic and heartbreak, a beautiful tapestry woven from love and revenge and forgiveness. But beware: once you start, you may not be able to put it down! -- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of INDEPENDENCE and THE LAST QUEEN
The Fox Wife is a rich tangle of myth, mystery, and history, delivered with Choo's inimitable grace and precision. It's not a book so much as a beguilement; it enchanted me entirely -- Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of STARLING HOUSE
Choo's writing is lush and the slow revelations of complicated relationships and reunions hum with tension. This is a treat * Publishers Weekly *
Snow's difficulties as both a fox and a young woman in a man's world are clearly drawn, as is the pathos of Bao's situation as a gentle soul who's always been in search of something or someone. An intriguing vulpine mystery worth the suspension of disbelief * Kirkus *
A beguiling tale of a bygone era * Straits Times *
Stunning . . . Choo's exquisite prose is perfectly matched to an enthralling story that is filled with magic, beauty, cruelty, and the slow unwinding of a double-layered mystery, but also comes star-dusted with an unexpected exuberance and flashes of dark humour * Lancashire Evening Post *
With deftness of pen and a keen eye for evocative detail, Choo crafts an intoxicating tale * Hot Press *
Like all the best supernatural stories, The Fox Wife reveals something profound about humanity: the ease with which we get drawn into chasing what we think we want, rather than what will actually nourish us. And the cruelty with which the powerful treat those under their power * The Washington Post *
Utterly captivating . . . . So lively and sharp-edged * Oprah Daily *
A delicate and suspenseful detective tale, it's perfect to savor on a wintry weekend * Los Angeles Times *
[An] enchanting tale of murder, revenge, and the power of a mother's love * Time *
Choo weaves yet another enthralling tale and, this time, it's a glimpse of the immortal lives of foxes. Her prose is lush as ever and Snow is a captivating lens of emotions and magic * Roselle Lim *
The voices are compelling; the secrets are rich . . . Layers of meaning accrue, bringing together the past and the present, mythology and personal ambition, actions and reactions, control and fate, into a fascinating tale of foxes, foes and friends * BookPage *
Part love story, part adventure, and part mystery, The Fox Wife is an enjoyable excursion into the beliefs and life in the China of 120 years ago * The New York Journal of Books *

Author Bio

Yangsze Choo is a Malaysian writer of Chinese descent. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Harvard, she worked as a management consultant before writing her New

York Times bestselling debut novel, The Ghost Bride, now a Netflix original series. Her second novel, The Night Tiger, was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick and a Big Jubilee Read selection for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee. She lives in California with her family and loves to eat and read (often at the same time). The Fox Wife and all previous novels would not have been possible without large quantities of dark chocolate.

You can find her on her website, yschoo.com, or @yangszechoo on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.