Vixen

Vixen is Hoa Pham’s fourth book – her first for adults.

‘There are many myths and stories about fox fairies.

But the only ones I can tell are mine.

I was born in the heart of a mountain, dwelling on my own, surrounded by rocks that reached for the sky … At first life at the Emperor’s court was like the stories they sang, of the moon and the stars disguising sordid sex. Then I was forced to leave. I travelled down the spine of Vietnam from Hue to Saigon, seeing monks and peasants, merchants and teachers, the French and the Communists.’

Civil unrest forces the fox fairy to flee from Vietnam to the land of ‘the new gold mountain’ – Australia. She is a spirit able to take the form of a woman or a fox at will. Vixen is her story – from the Imperial Citadel and country Vietnam to Melbourne suburbs and the Ballarat bush where spirits are everywhere.

Vixen marks the arrival of a remarkable young talent. Blending fairytale with realism, poetry with playful, earthy humour, the traditions of both Eastern and Western cultures meet in this exceptional novel. Vixen is a character to remember.

“A dazzling novel of transformations.” Brenda Walker