2026-05-26 - Lady Into Fox by David Garnett =========================================== Fox Woman Illustration Lady Into Fox (1922) is a story about a newlywed English couple who go on a walk in the woods and the wife abruptly turns into a fox. I expected a whimsical child's tale, but no, this story is serious. Lady Into Fox is a relatively short read and i recommend it. It reminded me a lot of another book i read, The Fox Woman (1999) by Kij Johnson, which is set in Japan and steeped in classical Chinese culture. Both books were online recommendations. Both books seriously and philosophically explore the ramifications of human and magical fox relationships. Neither book is for children. [1] The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson (1999) This world-- call it an image caught in a mirror-- Real it is not, nor unreal, either --Minamoto Sanetomo (1192-1219) To summarize without spoilers: magical foxes aren't evil, but they aren't exactly good either. Entering relationships with magical foxes tends to have a deleterious effect on humans. I take it as an allegory: humans find wild nature alive, attractive, and free! But it never ends well. These humans would have been better off to stick with civilization. This view is confirmed by the following review of Lady Into Fox: > For the British, the fox--as the last wild mammal of any size, one > of the few predators of our livestock--represents the threat played > by the wild in our national psyche like no other animal on this > rather tame, industrialised island. In this context, the fox's > growing presence in our cities makes it ripe for a new phase of > vilification, as the ultimate urban pest, a despoiler of suburban > order and a biter of innocent children. > --Alex Klaushofer [2] Alex Klauhofer's review of Lady Into Fox author: Garnett, David, 1892-1981 detail: source: tags: ebook,fantasy title: Lady Into Fox Footnotes ========= [1] The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson (1999) [2] Alex Klauhofer's review of Lady Into Fox Tags ==== ebook fantasy