Rescued by the Dog-Woman, a giant strong enough to fling an elephant into the air, their lives together will take them on a dizzying journey through space and time. As past and present collapse and centuries overlap, love, sex, truth, lies and twelve dancing princesses take centre stage. 'Entrancing...fabulous...

A secret code only visible in certain lights: the accumulation of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like braille. I like to keep my body rolled away from prying eyes, never unfold too much, tell the whole story. I didn't know that Louise would have reading hands.

'A fantasy, a vivid dream...inventive and brilliant' GuardianHenri has a passion for Napoleon - but Napoleon has a passion for chicken.