What: I'll be honest; this book is pretty trippy. On the surface, it focuses on two people: Henri, who is Napoleon's chef, and Villanelle, who is (among other things) a Venetian gondolier's daughter. Through them, the reader is introduced to the worlds of croupiers, pickpockets, Napoleon's army, and an island of madmen. It is a story about the often selfish nature of love, but it is not a love story. I don't know how she does it, but Jeanette Winterson manages to make this short, sometimes harsh, novel feel positively lush.
Comparable to: It's a somewhat dizzying blend of magical realism, history, fairy tale, and modernism. It's a bit Thomas Pynchon, a bit Woolf's Orlando, a bit Angela Carter.
Representative quote: "In spite of what the monks say, you can meet God without getting up early."
You might not like it if: You want your historical fiction to be more historical and less fictional.
How to get it: Kindle download, brick-and-mortar store, online store, library.
Comparable to: If you long for lush surrealism in a moving picture format, I'd like to direct your attention to Rec. #49: The Fall. (Note that The Passion and The Fall have similar, deceptively simple, titles. For balance.)
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