The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

If you've not read any Winterson, The Passion or Written on the Body are wonderful places to start - a delight.

The Passion is a fairy tale about survival and broken-heartedness, cruelty, obsession and madness.
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.
 
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'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