The Transit of Venus

by Shirley Hazzard

Genres: Historical Fiction; Literary Fiction

Synopsis

"An almost perfect novel” (the New York Times), THE TRANSIT OF VENUS follows Caroline and Grace Bell as they leave Australia to begin a new life in post-war England. From Sydney to London, New York, and Stockholm, and from the 1950s to the 1980s, the two sisters experience seduction and abandonment, marriage and widowhood, love and betrayal.

In exquisite prose, Australian novelist Shirley Hazzard tells the story of the displacements and absurdities of modern life. The result is at once an intricately-plotted Greek tragedy, a sweeping family saga, and a tantalizing love story that will transport listeners with “its plushness, patient description, etherizing beauty…” (Parul Sagal, New York Times)."