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Shop nowThe Fox Wife
A Novel
Narrator
Yangsze Choo
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Length
14 hours 36 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“A moving, deeply emotional story about a woman seeking vengeance for the death of her daughter. Snow is a Fox spirit, an almost immortal being who feeds off qi and are both revered and feared, especially in early 20th century China, at the end of the Qing dynasty. As she seeks her daughter's murderer, a detective with a mysterious tie to foxes is hired to hunt her, and we see in alternating perspectives as their stories follow, parallel, and eventually intersect. Surprisingly funny, very sweet, and full of nostalgia in a way only fantastical beings can be, this is a fairy tale that left my heart hurting in the best way. ”
— Amy • Bookbug
Bookseller recommendation
“I just finished The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo last night and it was AMAZING. It's fiction, but also has a detective element with Chinese folklore focusing on foxes. I haven't read a book in so long where the two main characters stories (who don't know one another) are moving toward one another, and the tension just BUILDS! This one really checked all the boxes: poetic, well written, depth of characters and their motives, themes of love, loss, revenge, AUGH. SO GOOD. The narration on Libro.fm was so good! End rant. ”
— Morgan • Bookmarks
Bookseller recommendation
“This slow burn of a novel is part mystery, part fable, all character. The novel alternates between the stories of Snow, a fox woman seeking revenge, and Bao, a private investigator who can hear lies, until their stories inevitably intertwine.”
— Fisher Nash • Carmichael's Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“Enchanting and impossible to put down. A perfect blend of history, myth, mystery, and romance. Beautifully read by the author. ”
— Kristine • Buttonwood Books and Toys
Bookseller recommendation
“The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo is a lovely story brilliantly uses the folk legend of fox who can present as human and live long lives, if they avoid misadventure. Snow is hunting the killer of her child, a photographer of low character who coveted a snow-white fox kit and left it piteously injured to die. Snow will follow him from 1908 Manchuria to Japan, seeking revenge for her child. Along the way, the beautiful woman with flashing eyes bewitches all she meets.”
— Deon • Sunriver Books & Music
Bookseller recommendation
“I'm not sure that any description of this book would have prepared me for how well Choo blends Chinese lore, murder mystery, family saga and character examination. Told from the perspectives of Snow, a fox woman and Bao a private investigator, this book is a genre- bending, engrossing read. I'm positively floored that it was read so convincingly by the author! ”
— Destinee • East City Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“Folklore, mystery, and romance result in a beguiling tale of foxes and humans. An aging detective with a talent for discerning the truth is hired to find the identity of a young woman found dead. His journey leads him in many unexpected directions and to meetings with a multitude of fascinating and sometimes quite mysterious people. Yangsze has created a magical tale with some of the most intriguing and unforgettable characters I have ever encountered. You don’t want to miss this one! ”
— Nancy • Raven Book Store
Bookseller recommendation
“Author Yangsze Choo reads her magical novel as no one else could. In her tale of foxes, spirits and Chinese folklore, mystery and magical realism intertwine, and Choo's performance includes all of the subtlety, humor and enunciation that guarantees a rich experience. I listened to fox-woman Snow tell her story of love and revenge to follow her journey, but also just to savor the author's beautiful voice. ”
— Cheryl • Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza
Bookseller recommendation
“Yangsze Choo grew up exposed to Chinese, Japanese and Korean folk tales, all of which she weaves expertly into this mystery with romantic touches and a smidgen of magical realism. The heroes of those ancient tales were always men, but not in The Fox Wife. It's such an engaging reading experience, so hard to put down, that you could call it a binge read. If you're into audiobooks, the author reads this novel herself and does it as well as any professional reader could. ”
— Bob • Changing Hands
This program is read by the author.
"Choo narrates the book herself with a grace of voice and manner that is rare in authors. Further, she delivers Chinese names and phrases with the intonation of a native speaker, lending another level of authenticity to this odd and wonderful tale."—The Washington Post
"Yangsze Choo again takes on narration duties herself, and delivers an enchanting reading. Her mellifluous tone enhances the atmosphere of the slight unreality of this folktale-slash-detective story."—Booklist
“Choo narrates this richly complex novel herself, her gorgeous writing delivered in a voice that is deep and precise and lovely. . . . Her tone and words transport us.” —San Francisco Chronicle on The Night Tiger
Some people think foxes are similar to ghosts because we go around collecting qi, but nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . .
Manchuria, 1908.
In the last years of the dying Qing Empire, a courtesan is found frozen in a doorway. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and handsome men. Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff 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, a family who owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments but can’t escape the curse that afflicts them—their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. When a disruptively winsome servant named Snow enters their household, the family’s luck seems to change—or does it?
Snow is a creature of many secrets, but most of all she’s a mother seeking vengeance for her lost child. Hunting a murderer, she will follow the trail from northern China to Japan, while Bao follows doggedly behind. Navigating the myths and misconceptions of fox spirits, both Snow and Bao will encounter old friends and new foes, even as more deaths occur.
New York Times bestselling author Yangsze Choo brilliantly explores a world of mortals and
spirits, humans and beasts, and their dazzling intersection. Epic in scope and full of singular, unforgettable characters, The Fox Wife is a stunning novel about old loves and second chances, the depths of maternal love, and ancient folktales that may very well be true.
A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company.
Yangsze Choo is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghost Bride (now a Netflix Original series) and The Night Tiger, a Reese’s 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.
Yangsze is happy to visit book clubs via Zoom! You can find her on her website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Yangsze Choo is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghost Bride (now a Netflix Original series) and The Night Tiger, a Reese’s 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.
Yangsze is happy to visit book clubs via Zoom! You can find her on her website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
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Reviews
“Choo’s writing is lush and the slow revelation of complicated relationships and reunions hum with tension. This is a treat.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An intriguing vulpine mystery worth the suspension of disbelief...The rich Asian tradition of fox folklore provides the backdrop for Choo’s complex and atmospheric tale of identity and discovery set in early 1900s Manchuria.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“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.”
—Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, internationally best-selling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child
“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 Daughter of the Moon Goddess
“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
“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
“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. Beware: once you start, you may not be able to put it down!”
—Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of Independence and The Last Queen
“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, author of Sophie Go's Lonely Hearts Club