"The Fox Wife" Discuss Everything *Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

A few questions to get us started:

1. What did you think of the world?
2. What did you think of the characters?
3. What worked or didn't for you?
4. Overall thoughts?

Non-spoiler thread here: First impressions

[Kareena]

1. What did you think of the world?
My first foray into a novel centered Chinese history and the mythology of the fox, the setting of Manchuria & Japan in the early 1900's felt fresh and different coming from a place of naivete on my end. I had plenty of curiosity as I read and was Googling places, people and the history of the Chinese dynasties.

2. What did you think of the characters?
I liked Bao, his gift of detecting lies added in a great element of insight to the storytelling.
All three foxes, Snow, Shirakawa and Kuro were all compelling characters, despite having different outward approaches to their existence.
The dynamic between Snow and Kuro from the start implied there was a pointed history between the two and when it was revealed that Kuro was the father of Snow's late-daughter I could read their sorrow hidden behind guarded interactions.
Shira and his love life was humorous.

3. What worked or didn't for you?
Snow's grief carried throughout the story, which was really melancholic. While that was saddening and is usually a negative emotion, this was definitely a positive as I felt connected to the sorrow and could understand the motives.
What didn't work for me was the story was a little slow going, and to me at times it was more like a murder-mystery.

4. Overall thoughts?
Was a solid 4/5 for me, like I mentioned above this was my first novel based in China/chinese myth so my curiosity is piqued, I hope to read more like it in future.

[Nat]

I just finished this book and I’m mesmerized. I also know very little about China, much less its history but this book was elegantly crafted to bring me into the story and only inspire a wish to learn more about it, not alienate me.

The characters were deeply intriguing to me, all the foxes, Bao and Tagtaa and most of the side characters as well.
This story flowed really well, yes I acknowledge it could be a slower novel but it never once dragged for me. Some details were repeated which I feel could’ve been left out and still keep the story on track but it doesn’t detract much otherwise.

The history and pain is deeply felt, the romantic element masterfully done because it’s hardly romance for both major couples, Snow and Kuro, Bao and Tagtaa. One being a reconciliation over a shared loss and sense of guilt, the other simply a lost friendship getting a second chance in old age. I loved that.

The detective element was great too, that’s my favourite style when the reader generally already knows what happened and it’s up to the main characters to come to the conclusion from their own sides.

This was a 5/5 for me, I felt it was magical and real.

[Daniel]

I liked the mythology. I wish we would have seen them turn into foxes at some point to escape or hide or something. What's the use in shapeshifting, if you stay human through the whole book?

I loved Bao's "superpower" of detecting lies. I wish we would have seen more lies detected in real time during the story.

I thought the mysteries were revealed in a good pace/order.
[mysteries and answers if it's useful to you:]
1-Who is the hubby (if the book is called Fox "Wife")?
2-Who is the frozen dead girl?
3-How did the baby fox die?
4-What history do Shiro and Snow have?
5-What did the group of youth do, and what's it have to do with Bektu?
6-What is up with the no-shadow people?
7-Who killed Bektu and why?
8-How did Chen disappear from the boat?
------
1-Kuro, they're just estranged since their baby's death
2-Feng, a local girl sold into prostitution, a victim of Shiro's qi-sucking
3-Bektu and a local hunter dug up the den to have a fox stoal for pictures, leaving the fox cub half dead
4-just flirty, Snow was already married to Kuro
5-they were influenced by Shiro to take an incriminating pro-revolution photo, used by Bektu as blackmail
6-their qi is off balance (yin/yang), likely due to a fox messing with it
7-Kuro, for revenge
8-Lu probably pushed him overboard to protect himself from the photo intrigue

[Kaia]

Nat wrote: "I just finished this book and I’m mesmerized. I also know very little about China, much less its history but this book was elegantly crafted to bring me into the story and only inspire a wish to le..."

Nat, you articulated a lot of the feelings that I also had about this book.

I really enjoyed the characters and the world. Shiro got on my nerves, but that was true to his character. The storyline with Bao and Tagtaa was my favorite part, and I was so happy that they had a chance to rekindle their friendship at the end. Bao’s ability to tell truth from lies was very interesting, especially the fact that his own lies made him feel sick so he almost always told the truth. Snow and Kuro’s story was sad, but it ended in a place of working toward healing. I appreciate that the author didn’t make it a rosy reunion, and that they still had periods of disliking one another and themselves, which felt more realistic.

I found the whole story and its mysteries to be mostly compelling reading, though there were some repetitive thoughts and feelings in the middle part that I found a bit tiresome. Not enough to dislike the overall story, though.

I didn’t know anything about the Chinese folklore around foxes going in, and now I am curious to learn more. I was very disappointed in myself, however, for not noticing the map on the end papers until I reached the end of the book. I love a good map in a book, so I wished I had seen that at the start of the story.

[Ellen]

Loved the mix of Chinese folklore and detective story.
The audio book was read by the author and I enjoyed the performance very much. I also enjoyed the history included in the author's notes.

[Meredith]

I'm ignoring the comments since I've only just started reading. I thought folks might be interested in this interview (radio with a transcript) with Yangsze Choo about the book. She talks a lot about foxes. Depending on how much people like to know (or not) before reading, it could be a bit spoilery, so I thought this thread was better to share.

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/10/123060...

[Raucous]

I've listened to a (virtual) pile of audiobooks this year. This one is the clear favorite. The author's voice was very well suited to the story that she was telling. The focus on both historic China and a mythological society of shapeshifting foxes paralleling and interacting with that historic Chinese society was fascinating. The slowly revealed mystery that brought it all together kept me reading. This is a book that felt like it should have been slow, but it never was for me. There was just so much engrossing detail about both the characters and societies.