The Fox Woman

The Fox Woman
by Kij Johnson

The Fox Woman
List Price: $16.99
Our Price: $10.77
You Save: $6.22 (37%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Kij Johnson
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-02-03
ISBN: 0312875592
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Tor Books

Summary of The Fox Woman

Kij Johnson has created an achingly beautiful love story, a fable wrapped in smoke and magic set against the fabric of ancient Japan. Johnson brings the setting lovingly to life, describing a world of formalities and customs, where the exchange of poetry is a form of conversation and everything has meaning, from the color of the silks on wears to how one may address others.

Yoshifuji is a man fascinated by foxes, a man discontented and troubled by the meaning of life. A misstep at court forces him to retire to his long-deserted country estate, to rethink his plans and contemplate the next move that might return him to favor and guarantee his family's prosperity.

Kitsune is a young fox who is fascinated by the large creatures that have suddenly invaded her world. She is drawn to them and to Yoshifuji. She comes to love him and will do anything to become a human woman to be with him.

Shikujo is Yoshifuji's wife, ashamed of her husband, yet in love with him and uncertain of her role in his world. She is confused by his fascination with the creatures of the wood, and especially the foxes that she knows in her heart are harbingers of danger. She sees him slipping away and is determined to win him back from the wild...for all that she has her own fox-related secret.

Magic binds them all. And in the making (and breaking) of oaths and honors, the patterns of their lives will be changed forever.

The Fox Woman is a powerful first novel, singing with lyrical prose and touching the deepest emotions. A historically accurate fantasy, it gives us a glimpse into, and an understanding of, the history that shaped the people of one of our world's greatest nations. But it is also a story about people trying to understand each other and the times they live in, people trying to see through illusions to confront the truth of who they are.

In Western fairy tales, we've got the werewolf, the man who changes into a wolf. But in the East, it's the fox who does the changing, into a man--or, more often, a sensuous, seductive woman. In her skillful debut, Kij Johnson takes this classic Japanese myth (based in large part on a Royall Tyler translation of a particular story) and spins it into a luminous, lyrical tale, a tender and whisper-quiet study of love, desire, joy, and the nature of the soul.

The Fox Woman follows two families, one of foxes and another of humans. The restless Kaya no Yoshifuji fails to receive an appointment in the Emperor's court and, distracted and seemingly unfazed, decides to relocate to a rural estate to pass a pensive winter, accompanied by his wife Shikujo and son Tadamaro. But a young fox named Kitsune and her brother, mother, and grandfather have set up their den in the run-down estate, and soon the fate of both families becomes intertwined; Yoshifuji becomes bewitched by the foxes, and Kitsune in turn falls in love with him, much to the distress of all others involved, especially Shikujo.

Johnson tells her tale in measured, intimate passages, through Kitsune's diary, Yoshifuji's notebook, and Shikujo's pillow book. The rich, truthful depiction of the Heian-era setting, punctuated by exchanges of poetry and steeped in emotive descriptions of both the fox and human worlds, establishes a still, meditative, and rewarding pace. With her thoughtful ear, Johnson offers a mature and knowing first effort. --Paul Hughes

Literature & Fiction Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Women ImageLittle Women
by Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops: $5.00
The Killing Ground ImageThe Killing Ground
by JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowning ImageSaving Fish from Drowning
by Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancy ImageLife Expectancy
by Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princess ImageConstant Princess
by Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1) ImageWolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)
by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Sahara ImageSahara
by Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy) ImagePerelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)
by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.89
Price in other shops: $10.50
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towers ImageThe Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towers
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Mars ImageRed Mars
by Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop ImageStoryteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop
by Kate Wilhelm
Small Beer Press; Published: 2005-08-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $16.00
Old Man's War ImageOld Man's War
by John Scalzi
Tor Science Fiction; Published: 2007-01-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.66
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Chains That You Refuse ImageThe Chains That You Refuse
by Elizabeth Bear
Night Shade Books; Published: 2006-06-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.94
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden ImageThe Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden
by Catherynne M. Valente
Spectra; Published: 2006-10-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.84
Price in other shops: $16.00
Shambling Towards Hiroshima ImageShambling Towards Hiroshima
by James Morrow
Tachyon Publications; Published: 2009-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1) ImageAcross the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1)
by Lian Hearn
Riverhead Trade; Published: 2003-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops: $15.00
Miss Garnet's Angel ImageMiss Garnet's Angel
by Salley Vickers
Published: 2002-04-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.06
Price in other shops: $14.00
Japanese Tales (Pantheon fairy tale & folklore library) ImageJapanese Tales (Pantheon fairy tale & folklore library)
by Royall Tyler
Pantheon; Published: 2002-08-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.11
Price in other shops: $19.95
When Fox is a Thousand ImageWhen Fox is a Thousand
by Larissa Lai
Arsenal Pulp Press; Published: 2004-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.28
Price in other shops: $17.95
Fudoki ImageFudoki
by Kij Johnson
Tor Books; Published: 2004-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.81
Price in other shops: $15.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories