The Fox Woman [Hardcover]

Kij Johnson (Author), Susan Seddon Boulet (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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

From Publishers Weekly

HAn expansion of Johnson's acclaimed story "Fox Magic," this moving novel is based on a ninth-century Japanese fairy tale. Depressed by his failures in the emperor's court, Kaya no Yoshifuji brings his wife, Shikujo, and his eight-year-old son back to his remote country estate. There Kitsune, a young fox-woman, sees him and falls in love with him. Through the diaries of the three main characters, we see that as Yoshifuji's sadness drives him away from his wife, he finds himself strangely obsessed with the family of foxes in his garden. This obsession terrifies Shikujo, who has disturbing memories of a fox-man who once appeared in her dreams. Later, when Shikujo returns to the capital to try to salvage her son's career in the imperial court, Kitsune and her family use fox-magic to create an idyllic imitation of the human world, into which they lure Yoshifuji. He believes the illusion and marries Kitsune. But in this fairy tale, marriage does not end happily ever after. Kitsune fears that Yoshifuji will someday see that his beautiful human wife is in fact a fox, their house a hole in the ground and their dainty food mice and insects. It is clear that the precarious illusion will soon unravel. A meditation on poetry, ritual and humanity, Johnson's fairy tale is a literate, magical and occasionally grotesque love story. Yoshifuji and Shikujo often communicate with each other through poetry; beautiful haikus and wakas provide intense glimpses into their characters. Steeped in historical detail, Johnson's prose is uncommonly musical; it captures the atmosphere of Japan's old courts while avoiding ostentation. This is only Johnson's first novel, but it establishes her as one of SF's most remarkable stylists. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312854293
• ISBN-13: 978-0312854294
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,021,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Poetic Novel, a Novel of Poetry, November 19, 2000

By 

Kevin Wohler (Lawrence, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fox Woman (Hardcover)

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.

Woven into the story is a wonderful collection of poetry. Yoshifuji and his wife trade poems in a custom that is difficult for Kitsune to understand. So it may also be for the readers of fantasy who are not well-versed in reading poetry. Yet, readers should neither ignore nor underestimate these lines. The simple words are beautiful, as the poem that Yoshifuji writes on the surface of a fan his wife left behind: "The spider's web can catch the moonlight, / but cannot keep it."

The poetry is an intricate part of the novel, not only for its beauty but also for its importance within the story. Yet, it is not only the poetry within the novel that keeps the reader entranced, but the poetry of the novel. The lives of the characters are reflected in the seasons, their surroundings, and even in the spider web that Yoshifuji refuses to have swept away from his room. The novel reminds the reader of the poetry of life, and the beauty that exists in all things.

Kij Johnson does a masterful job of writing a fantasy story that is a love story, a fable, and a poem. As her first novel, it is a wonderful promise of things to come.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fox Woman -- art of the novel, December 28, 1999

By 

Chris McKitterick - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fox Woman (Hardcover)

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, and the presentation is just gorgeous, too (nice cover, good use of calligraphy) -- a great gift.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fox Woman, December 31, 1999

By 

Bridget McKenna (Seattle Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fox Woman (Hardcover)

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.