The Passion, by Jeanette Winterson

I confess: I skimmed through this one. I've just been too busy to read a storybook properly.

The Passion is set during the Napoleonic wars. I think it has something to do with identity: among boatsmen in Venice, only boys get born with webbed feet, all except for cross-dressing Villanelle. But it is so much more than that too.

I think you're better off reading the blurb here.

I'm telling you stories. Trust me.