num_pages: 160
description: This is the story of Henri, a young Frenchman sent to fight in the Napoleonic wars. It is the story of Villanelle, a cross-dressing Venetian woman, born with webbed feet. There are four sections: The Emperor. The Queen of Spades. The Zero Winter. The Rock. Told in the first-person, The Emperor is Henri's narrative, while The Queen of Spades belongs to Villanelle. The pair meet in Russia in The Zero Winter. From then the narratives switch and intertwine.
language: English
title: The Passion
titlecomplete: The Passion
genres: Romance, Queer, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Historical, Novels, Fiction, Literature, LGBT
ratings_count: 23062
places: Venice
awards: awardedAt: 536486400000
name: John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, awardedAt: 568022400000
name: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
category: Best Book in  South Asia and Europe
publisher: Vintage Classisc