Henri had a passion for Napoleon and Napoleon had a passion for chicken. From Boulogne to Moscow Henri butchered for his Emperor and never killed a single man.
Meanwhile, in Venice, the city of chance and disguises, Villanelle was born with the webbed feet of her boatman father - but in the casinos she gambled her heart and lost.
As the soldier-chef's love for Napoleon turns to hate he finds the Venetian beauty, and together they flee to the canals of darkness.
'It's a fantasy, a vivid dream...inventive and brilliant'Guardian
'As moving and funny as it is skilful, and reflects the author's formidable appetite for life'Sunday Times
'A book of great imaginative audacity and assurance...brilliantly physical (and funny) detail"Times Literary Supplement
'Its concentrated, beautifully detailed prose recalls the diction of fairy tales; its plot incorporates their magic, their shrewd wit and brutality...a deeply imagined and beautiful book, often arrestingly so'New York Times
Jeanette Winterson OBE was born in Manchester. Adopted by Pentecostal parents she was raised to be a missionary. This did and didnt work out.
Discovering early the power of books she left home at 16 to live in a Mini and get on with her education. After graduating from Oxford University she worked for a while in the theatre and published her first novel at 25.Oranges Are Not The Only Fruitis based on her own upbringing but using herself as a fictional character. She scripted the novel into a BAFTA-winning BBC drama. 27 years later she re-visited that material in the bestselling memoirWhy Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?She has written 10 novels for adults, as well as childrens books, non-fiction and screenplays. She writes regularly for theGuardian. She lives in the Cotswolds in a wood and in Spitalfields, London.
She believes that art is for everyone and it is her mission to prove it.
