“Fairy-tale
romances end with a wedding, and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this
book, the celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the
heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary,
his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his
story begins to unfold differently. Mary challenges Mr. Fox to join her in
stories of their own devising; and in different times and places, the two of
them seek each other, find each other, thwart each other, and try to stay
together, even when the roles they inhabit seem to forbid it. Their adventures
twist the fairy tale into nine variations, exploding and teasing conventions of
genre and romance, and each iteration explores the fears that come with
accepting a lifelong bond. Meanwhile, Daphne becomes convinced that her husband
is having an affair, and finds her way into Mary and Mr. Fox's game. And so Mr.
Fox is offered a choice: Will it be a life with the girl of his dreams, or a
life with an all-too-real woman who delights him more than he cares to admit? The
extraordinarily gifted Helen Oyeyemi has written a love story like no other.
Mr. Fox is a magical book, endlessly inventive, as witty and charming as it is
profound in its truths about how we learn to be with one another.”
