- 400 pages
- Published 2024
- Format: Digital
- Genre: Fantasy; mythology/folklore; historical fiction
This book started out a bit slowly but I loved the atmosphere and characters, and the way the story gradually pulls you in. In Manchuria, 1908, Snow is a woman/fox who is hunting her child’s killer. She takes a position as an assistant to an elderly woman who runs the local medicine shop. The family is under a curse where no eldest son lives beyond 24, and the woman’s grandson is 23 and a new child is on the way. At the same time, Bao is a detective who can tell when someone is lying (a gift from when his nanny prayed to the fox gods). He’s investigating the death of a woman found outside in the snow, when he begins to hear stories of another mysterious woman, a fox spirit.
The story is primarily told from two points of view, Snow’s and Bao’s, and I appreciated that the two characters were written so differently, there was never any question of who was narrating. Bao is a tough old guy who has never gotten over the loss of his childhood love. He’s saddled with a gift/curse that leaves him fascinated by fox spirits. He’s never understood why he has this mysterious ability. And as with many gifts, he’s also lost something – his shadow.
Snow is a grieving mother, and we’ll find out that she’s lost more than just her child. As a fox she’s had many unique experiences and she’s much stronger and wiser than the young woman she appears to be. I like the way Choo frequently references the characteristics of foxes in describing her and the other fox characters. They are wily tricksters, and they are powerful but also vulnerable. They can entice and confuse, make people forget themselves. As Choo points out, there is danger in this, because seduction can’t be controlled.
Choo explains that she has spun her story around old Chinese mythology about fox spirits. While there is a lot of fantasy, there is also a lot of realism. It’s a great detective story, told through interviews and a step by step tracking of events. I remember enjoying Choo’s The Night Tiger for the same reason. While it took some effort to keep track of the different characters and chronologies (for example, the events in Bao’s childhood, and the activities of the three young men that Snow is traveling with). This book reminded me in some ways of Violet Kupersmith’s haunting Build Your House Around My Body (see this post for more recommendations of books that blend history and fantasy).
There’s not a lot of history in the book; we hear references to the ruling Qing dynasty and there’s some discussion of revolutionaries, but the history is very much in the background. There are a number of cities mentioned, that I had no familiarity with, but it wasn’t too difficult to follow the movements of the characters.
I loved the way Choo blends Chinese fantasy, mystery, history, and language throughout the novel. I had some issues with the pacing, particularly towards the beginning and the end, but I really appreciated the complexity of the characters (like the way Snow wrestles with her need for vengeance) and their relationships, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen to all of them. This is a slow-paced, complicated story with beautiful imagery.
Note: I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and publisher Henry Holt & Co. This book was published February 13, 2024.
