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The New York Times–bestselling author interweaves the destinies of Napoleon's cook and an enigmatic Venetian woman in this "arresting, elegant novel" (Publishers Weekly).
A faithful soldier of the Grande Armée, Henri is given the honor of serving meals to Napoleon himself. After all, Henri is short—and no one over five-foot-two ever serves the emperor. But when following his revered leader brings him to near-starvation in Russia's frozen winter, Henri is disillusioned and desperate for escape.
The web-footed daughter of a Venetian boatman, Villanelle has long been acquainted with the advantages of dishonesty. Trust hasn't been her strong suit since her heart was stolen—literally—by a noblewoman she once loved.
Soon these two will meet their shared destiny in the chaotic carnival that is early 19th century Venice. In The Passion, Whitbread Award-winning author Jeanette Winterson delivers a "historical novel quite different from any other" (Vanity Fair).
"Recalls García Márquez . . . Magical touches dance like highlights over the brilliance of this fairy tale about passion, gambling, madness, and androgynous ecstasy." —Edmund White
“Its concentrated, beautifully detailed prose recalls the diction of fairy tale; its plot incorporates their magic, their shrewd wit and brutality…a deeply imagined and beautiful book, often arrestingly so.” —The New York Times
“Recalls Garcia Marquez…magical touches dance like highlights over the brilliance of this fairy tale about passion, gambling, madness, and androgynous ecstasy.” —Edmund White
“A historical novel quite different from any other…it is written with a living passion, an eyewitness immediacy….Winterson is a master of her material, a writer in whom great talent deeply abides.” —Vanity Fair
“The overwhelming impression of her work is one of remarkable self-confidence, and she evidently thrives on risk….As good as Poe: it dares you to laugh and stares you down.” —The New York Review of Books
“The book has the enchanted pessimism of the best fairy tales. The Passion is a love story, a meditation on pleasure and its limits, a poetic novel written in a style that is wholly original.” —Interview
Jeanette Winterson was born in Manchester. She is a beloved cultural icon and queer trailblazer who published her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, at twenty-five. Over two decades later she revisited that material in her internationally bestselling memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Winterson has written thirteen novels for adults and three collections of short stories, as well as children’s books, non-fiction and screenplays. Her novel Written on the Body was named one of the 25 Most Influential Works of Postwar Queer Literature by the New York Times. Since her innovative and forward-thinking writing about AI in her essay collection 12 Bytes, she speaks at tech conferences around the world. She is professor of New Writing at the University of Manchester and writes a popular Substack, Mind Over Matter. She lives in the Cotswolds in a wood and in Spitalfields, London.