Yangsze Choo's 'The Fox Wife' explores gender, murder and folklore in the 1900s

NPR's Book of the Day

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Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 2 July 2024

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

Yangsze Choo says she doesn't thoroughly plan out her novels – her newest, The Fox Wife, blossomed from that core idea behind the title, of a woman who also happens to be a fox. But beyond that, it's a story about a mother avenging her child, about a murder investigation in early 20th century China, and about family curses. As the author tells NPR's Scott Simon, foxes hold a wide range of intrigue and mystery in Chinese, Korean and Japanese legends — and it's these traits that broke open a whole world of secrets for her characters.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Before we get into today show,
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0:39.2	There are the types of writers that plan. You know, they've got a firm idea of the beginning,
0:44.3	middle, end of their story. They know the plot beats, know the characters, etc. And then there
0:49.1	are writers like Yangxi Chu, who is not a planning writer. Her new novel is titled The Fox Wife.
0:56.2	It's about a woman who is also a fox.
0:58.5	There's other stuff, of course, but that's all she started with, that one idea, a woman who is a fox.
1:05.1	She and NPR Scott Simon get to talking about the characteristics of foxes across cultures and throughout time and how
1:12.2	they're wily and clever because they need to be. Similarly, Chu points out to women. That's ahead.
1:20.4	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts,
1:27.4	diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show,
1:30.7	Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:35.6	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR
1:41.3	app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:46.4	Snow is a fox.
1:52.5	Really, a fox spirit, able to allure, to entrap, and to change shapes.
1:58.9	Snow can take on the form of a woman referred to as Asan, and in 1908 she's on the hunt of the man who murdered her daughter. Snow's search for truth
	...

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