"First published in Great Britain in 1987 by Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd."--Title page verso.

Set during the tumultuous years of the Napoleonic Wars, The passion intertwines the destinies of two remarkable people: Henri, a simple French soldier who follows Napoleon from glory to Russian ruin; and Villanelle, the red-haired, web-footed daughter of a Venetian boatman, whose husband has gambled away her heart. In Venice's compound of carnival, chance, and darkness, the pair meet their singular destiny.