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.

 (33 customer reviews)

In Kij Johnson's fantasy novel, The Fox Woman, she blends Japanese folklore with a style of poetry that is both traditional and clearly her own. The story, one of a nobleman and his family who move to the country, is told in three voices: Yoshifuji (the husband), Shikujo (the wife), and Kitsune (a fox). Making these voices more intimate is the fact that they are from three diaries, making them honest, strong, and beautiful.When Kaya No Yoshifuji and his family move to the capital, it upsets two sets of lives, those of his family and those of the family of foxes that have been living underneath the unused country house. Kitsune, the fox, looks on these strangers with a sense of longing and wonder, unable to understand their human ways. Soon her obsession reflects in Yoshifuji, who becomes obsessed with the foxes living near his home. As Kitsune's obsession grows, she falls in love with Yoshifuji and seeks to use fox-magic to transform herself into a woman to obtain his love...Read more

This is one of the most moving and beautiful books I have ever had the pleasure to read. And I'm not alone in saying so: The December 20 Publishers Weekly gives The Fox Woman a starred review and says, "it establishes [Kij Johnson] as one of SF's most remarkable stylists."The Fox Woman is about love, poetry, and what it means to be human, even if told in part from a magical fox's point of view... or, perhaps, especially so. It is the story of a young fox who falls in love with a man in Eleventh-Century Japan, and then her triumphs and troubles when she desires to become a woman. It is also about a man, spurned from Imperial Court, who must learn what it means to be a man; and his wife, who probably learns the most during the course of the novel.Johnson's use of language is masterful; her words (though the same ones you and I use) are magic, profoundly moving the reader while evoking a rich and exotic environment.A must-read! You won't be disappointed. Oh,...Read more

Kij Johnson's The Fox Woman transports you into the heart of Heian Japan, and the hearts of some of the most engaging characters ever written. It tells the story of a man, a woman, and a young fox discovering their intertwined destinies in the real world, and in a magical world of wonderful illusion where a den in the earth can be a lovely country estate, and a fox transfixed by love can be a beautiful woman. The settings are historically accurate and (more important) so real you can reach out and touch them. The prose is exquisite -- there's no better word, and the author's masterful sense of story will immerse you in her world as few writers are able to do. This book will break your heart, and you'll be glad for it, I promise you.