In Southeast Asia the fox fairy, who can change shape at will from fox to woman and back, is a powerful mythological figure, believed to bring luck to men who catch her.
The vixen of the title is a courtier to Emperor Nguyen Bao Dai in the 1940s. The increasing influence of the French at court forces her to flee first to Saigon and later to Melbourne. In the new gold mountain, Vixen assumes a false identity and is befriended by a rare kindred spirit, another fox fairy, stranded in Australia since the gold rush days.
After many adventures Vixen returns to post-war Vietnam, where she finds the orphaned fox kitten who will be the heir to her story and the key to her destiny.
