3.5 stars

Many individuals consider this to be a masterpiece, one of the outstanding novels of the twentieth century. It functions on multiple levels. In one aspect, it is a love story, yet there is an abundance of unrequited love and unhappy terminations. Two Australian sisters, Caroline and Grace Bell, relocate to England to reside with their ward. There are flashbacks to Australia where they were raised by their rather challenging sister. Meanwhile, Ted Tice, a young astronomer, goes to study with a more prominent one who happens to be the ward of the two sisters. Ted falls in love with Caroline, but she does not reciprocate. She finds the upcoming playwright Paul Ivory more appealing. He is on the verge of marrying for money and position. He is amoral, ruthless, and essentially the villain of the story. Ted remains in love with Caroline. Grace is more conventional. This could have become rather sentimental, but it manages to avoid that. One must be cautious with the ending. Although it is true that the ending is at the beginning as Hazzard does disclose what happens to the main characters very early on, it is easy to forget and be misled by what appears to be a happy ending. This is a bit mysterious, but it is cleverly constructed. The entire narrative is complex and rather gloomy. No one is truly happy, and everyone believes the grass is greener elsewhere.

Hazzard undoubtedly writes beautifully. For example, “It was simply that the sky, on a shadeless day, suddenly lowered itself like an awning. Purple silence petrified the limbs of trees and stood crops upright in the fields like hair on end. Whatever there was of fresh white paint sprang out from downs or dunes, or lacerated a roadside with a streak of fencing. This occurred shortly after midday on a summer Monday in the south of England.” She also has a talent for creating vivid character descriptions like “A man stood on a white porch and looked at the Andes. He was over fifty, white-haired, thin, with a stooping walk that suggested an orthopaedic defect, but in fact derived from beatings received in prison. His appearance was slightly unnatural in other ways—pink, youthful lips and light, light-lashed eyes: an impression, nearly albinic, that his white suit intensified.” Moreover, she can inject humour into her writing as seen in “It was hard to imagine the Major in wooing mood. One suspected he had never courted anything but disaster.”

However, the overall reading experience is not entirely comfortable. The most amoral and unscrupulous character is gay. The most decent character is terminally unhappy, and their end is tragic. One of Caroline’s friends offers her verdict on her: “For her part, Valda considered Caro as a possibility lost. Caro might have done anything, but had preferred the common limbo of sexual love. Whoever said, ‘When you go to women, take your whip’, was on to something deep, and deeply discouraging.” The quote, of course, is from Nietzsche. And there are other comments such as “the men with their assertions great and small, the women all submission or dominion” and “Nothing creates such untruth in you as the wish to please” and “Even through a telescope, some people see what they choose to see. Just as they do with the unassisted eye.” He said “Nothing supplies the truth except the will for it.” Love is presented as an illusion, and life is portrayed as sad.

Hazzard writes well and is perceptive, but there is something that bothered me, what seemed like a rather conventional approach to gender relations. It is always enlightening to look at at least likeable characters and understand who and what they are. Nevertheless, I would encourage people to read it as I could be mistaken about this.

I have been spending three days thinking about how to review this book, yet I still don't truly know what to say about it.

It is an astonishingly well-controlled work of storytelling. The reader's understanding is always slightly ahead of the characters, but the author cleverly holds back a few crucial revelations. Reading it more than 40 years after its publication and many years after the events described early in the story, it does, inevitably, show its age.

Much of the narrative is set in a bygone world where, for the vast majority of women, the only choices were either low-paying, arduous work or marriage. Caro's journey is both deeply moving and entirely plausible. The story is rich and multi-layered, and Hazzard employs language with great precision.

Despite the title, astronomy plays a very minor role in the story. It is more of a backdrop or a thematic element rather than a central focus. Nevertheless, the book as a whole is a captivating and thought-provoking read that offers insights into the human condition and the passage of time.

A brilliant writer and an equally remarkable book. It turns out to be a moral tale that is both surprising and worthy of a second read.

Upon re-reading, in order to better understand the last pages that are truly astonishing.

Okay, just in case anyone ever reads these booknotes, I must add after a short re-read. If one fails to grasp that something momentous occurs on the last page, then the book loses its meaning. I'm not going to spell it out (you can go looking after you think about it), but Hazzard's decision to end with this collision of planets is sheer genius.

The book becomes real and is seared into your brain, much like life. It just happens.

The book was great, and the last page was genius. Do I give it 5 stars? I think 4, as the majority of it didn't really touch me. It was like looking through a glass.

**Title: A Captivating Tale of Love, Longing, and Life's Intricacies**

Caro and Grace, sisters from Australia in the 1950s, find themselves in London, having dinner at the home of Professor Sefton Thrale. The professor, who has his own prejudices, is teaching them a lesson about astronomy when Caro spoils the moment by guessing correctly.

Grace's suitor, the professor's son, is not as snobbish as his father. However, the professor doesn't much care for the fact that Grace is from Australia, seeing it as a place that requires apologies.

The Bell sisters, who were orphaned as children and raised by their older half-sister Dora, have no fortunes. Dora, who resents the burden of raising them, now wishes to go to New Zealand.

The story is a slow read, full of observations that make the reader stop and think. Hazzard's use of incomplete sentences and references to future events add depth and realism to the characters and situations.

The relationships between the various characters are complex, filled with love, envy, cheating, and obsession. Hazzard captures the thrill of unspoken love and lust, as well as the conflict between the desire for change and the need for stability.

Across the world, the ties between the characters tug and loosen, but never quite break. The story's ending is engrossing, sending the reader back to search for clues. Overall, it is a wonderful tale that will stay with you long after you've finished reading.

5★

My god.

I vividly recall one evening in the summer before last. In the middle of a sentence, I suddenly gasped aloud and clutched "The Great Fire" tightly to my chest, as if I wanted to hold onto what I had just read and felt all to myself.

I completed "The Transit of Venus" in a similar turmoil of joy and pain. This book truly carried me away. I think it is so beautiful that I am beyond my ability to describe it to you. I mean, I am crying right now, and I will shortly shut this laptop, cross the room, and bury my face in my husband's neck.

This shows the profound impact these books have had on me. They are not just words on a page but gateways to different emotions and experiences. The power of literature to touch our hearts and souls is truly remarkable. It can make us feel a whole range of emotions, from intense joy to deep sorrow.

I am grateful for these literary treasures that have enriched my life and allowed me to escape into different worlds, even if only for a short while. They have become a part of my journey and will always hold a special place in my heart.

The first seventy or so pages of this book are a real struggle to get through.

The initial couple of pages start to set the scene, and then the characters that have been introduced are explored in-depth via flashbacks for a solid sixty or so pages.

The story wasn't firmly enough rooted in the present for me to fully appreciate the past, and I felt off-kilter for the first fifth of the book.

By the time I completed all the flashbacks, I had forgotten about the present-day characters, and returning to real-time narration was both a jolt and a relief.

The extended flashback period makes it impossible to understand what kind of story is being told, leaving me disoriented.

I found that I could only read twenty or thirty pages at a time, frequently losing interest and not understanding the point of the section.

At this stage, I also felt the style was inappropriate. It imitates Dickens and his contemporaries but doesn't quite capture the essence they create due to its construction.

Mark Twain described this effect well: "The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."

Here, as a reader, I'm aware of what's being attempted and the failure to achieve it. The anticipation of the lightning compared to the reality of the lightning bug.

The first fifth of this book is frustrating as it only gives disappointment and no hope for the story.

After that, however, the story truly takes off.

The near-miss feeling becomes a fitting use of the old-style writing.

The "almost" disappears, and reading is enjoyable on a sentence, section, and word level.

The characters' relationships intertwine in unexpected and complementary ways.

Caro emerges as the clear focus of the novel, and she's a worthy character to follow.

In this, too, the styles of the past are cultivated with the good, strong, and long-suffering female protagonist.

The main set of characters each get a chapter or section dedicated to exploring their humanity, inner strength, or lack thereof.

All are complex and well-portrayed, and the order in which each moment is presented serves to highlight the relative failures and virtues of those depicted.

All of this is very well done.

At the end, though, Caro's emotions aren't believable - they develop too rapidly.

More should have been done to build up to her feelings or bring them out gradually.

Now I'm complaining that not enough time was given - only a few pages.

This story was agonizingly slow to start and too hasty to finish, but in between is a very rewarding read.

I rate this book 5/10.

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Spotify Audiobooks, in collaboration with Spiegel & Grau, released Hazzard's The Transit of Venus on September 10, 2024, for the first time in audio form, narrated by Juliet Stevenson. I was fortunate enough to receive an unabridged audio ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. As a bonus, there is a section at the conclusion of the book where Hazzard reads an early chapter from the novel, which is a special treat.

I read the print version of Transit of Venus over a year ago and was extremely excited to have the opportunity to revisit this book in audio form. Stevenson does an outstanding job of narration. Her use of accents and voice inflections is so beautiful that I never had any difficulty understanding who was speaking. Her voice has such a lovely cadence that it brings the beauty of Hazzard's poetic language to the forefront. However, it might be a bit challenging for a first-time reader to fully grasp all the nuances of this very complex story from the audio alone. I was very glad to have a prior knowledge of the plot and sequence of events when listening to this audiobook.

The story follows two sisters and their loves and lives in the years after World War II. Their story may seem relatively straightforward on the surface, but it is the language and the subtleties of the omnipresent narrator that make this novel multi-layered. Even after two readings, I still feel that I could go back to this book again and again and discover meanings that I had previously missed. Stevenson's voice has an old-world quality that is perfect for this story, which begins in Britain in 1948. From the moment it started, I felt as if I was listening to someone who knew the story well and was reading it at just the right pace to allow the subtler shades of the story to shine through.

Although I had read the novel before, the audio version opened up new doors of meaning and gave me insights that I had previously overlooked in the print version. It is difficult to recommend the audio over the print, but I did find that the language really came alive in the audio form. However, this is a many-layered novel, and the audio format does allow the listener to drift off at times, and some of the more subtle foreshadowing and plot points may be missed. I found that it required close listening and a slow or normal pace to fully enjoy this version. My strongest recommendation is that I loved this audio version, was very pleased to see it done so well, and I know that when I return to this novel for the third reading, it will be in the audio form as I had such a wonderful reading experience.

THE REVIEW BELOW IS FOR MY INITIAL REVIEW OF THE PRINT EDITION.

"At first there is something you expect of life. Later, there is what life expects of you."

I'm not sure if I can even label or define this book. It is a great read, but it shouldn't be approached lightly. I didn't feel quite worthy of this read. I know I missed a lot, and yet it was so full that I couldn't fathom all it was saying even after several sittings. It's like a deliciously over-rich dessert that I wanted to inhale but that insisted on being savored and not rushed through. As soon as I finished, I felt I should start again because I finally began to fully understand, and I know I might read it better with that understanding. (I'm a reader who is always looking for the plot. Where is this story going, and am I in for the ride?) In this case, I would say that the plot is not the strongest point here, but only in the usual ways. It has incredible depth in how it describes and shows, through language, where it is going.

I often felt like I was heading down a road and knew where its likely destination was, and it did arrive where I thought it would, but the journey was one I never expected.

It is a 5-star difficult read. The language and phrasing require so much thought, and there is brilliance that requires focus to fully appreciate. The plot points are subtle and easily overlooked. (I felt grateful for the characters' insights, or I might have missed some completely.)

The story is about two sisters, Caro and Grace, who arrive in England from Australia just after World War II. It goes on to tell of their lives and loves through the long years ahead. Grace settles into marriage early, while Caro is the free spirit, looking more for a life of unconventionality. This is the story of their loves, the ones they had and the ones they wanted. There is a lot here about love and life, and how you choose to live and love, and how that plays out. Is it possible to have the life you want when what you want changes over time? Life always gets more complicated, and decisions accumulate as the years pass. Is it possible that a wrong turn took you down a path that only seemed right at the time?

I previously read Hazzard's The Great Fire and loved it—even more on the second reading. I am certain that the wonders of this book will shine even more when I am ready to sit down with it again. It was great to do this as a group reading as it added so much. It did remind me of Towles' Rules of Civility in many ways, with a London rather than NYC setting. If you liked that, you will certainly enjoy this.

Read this book – and you definitely should read this book – with great care.

You should read it carefully because it is filled with passages that you will want to read multiple times just to relish their beauty ( “...the sky, on a shadeless day, suddenly lowered itself like an awning.”) and passages that capture a character in a single phrase (“Dora sat on a corner of the spread rug, longing to be assigned some task so she could resent it.”). There are also passages that you will need to read more than once to ensure you understand them.

But it is a safe bet that even the most attentive reader, at some point in the last 20 - 30 pages, will skim back through the book to find the clues Shirley Hazzard left for us and to confirm that what you think happened actually did occur.

A transit of Venus is a rare yet predictable astronomical event that takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun. The Transit of Venus is a love story or, to be more precise, it is a novel about love – about the course of its passage and its subjection to laws as unyielding as those that govern the movement of the planets – and it is a novel about the individual's struggle for moral integrity and control of his/her own destiny.

It unfolds over thirty years, following Grace and Caroline Bell, two young Australian sisters who were orphaned as children and make their way to England after World War II. Both are beautiful – fair and timid Grace who enters into a conventional marriage, and dark and forthright Caro who is loved, betrayed, and the subject of a long unrequited love. (\\"...the tragedy is not that love doesn't last. The tragedy is the love that lasts.\\")

This is an elegantly written and brilliantly constructed novel, often justifiably regarded as one of the best of the 20th century. Its unhurried pace and refined ambiance belie the depth of Shirley Hazzard's ideas about innocence, power, corruption, injustice, and gender, and the revelation of its secrets, all intricately foreshadowed, leaves us amazed and shaken.

When you've read the last page and have convinced yourself that you know what happened, don't be astonished if you find yourself reading the ending again to see if it might turn out differently. This is a book that demands – and is worthy of – your complete attention. More than once.

Read this book carefully. There is an abundance of wonderful content in the writings. It is so rich and engaging that one could easily find themselves drawn to read it a second time. This is a classically written love story that is truly a joy to read. It tells the tale of two sisters who arrive in England from Australia. We get to follow their journey as they build a new life for themselves in a foreign land. The story is filled with emotions, challenges, and beautiful moments that will touch your heart. It is a captivating read that will keep you hooked from beginning to end.

I could truly appreciate the intelligent writing that was present in this novel. Undoubtedly, Ms. Hazzard is a highly cerebral author. There were indeed some remarkable points of memorable language and profound insight.

However, for me personally, this is not the brilliant novel that others seem to believe it is. One of the issues I had was with the characters. Either they were a little obtuse, making me question their actions based on the way the author had depicted them, or they were so obvious that they became rather boring. We have the self-satisfied, philandering husband, the long-suffering wife, and the lovelorn 'other guy' who pines and pines and pines to the point of nausea.

The pace of the story was also uneven. It started off slowly, then picked up, but afterwards, it seemed to grind to a long and tiresome slog towards the 'big bang' ending. And when I'm so distracted by the mechanics of a story that I find myself thinking, "Add the next character, already!" (and then she does), I know that it's simply not working for me.

Regarding the ending, I don't wish to say too much about what others found to be a highly satisfying 'jolt' of a late back story. I do realize that she wrote this in a time when her viewpoint would have been widely shared and accepted. But was no one else bothered by this stereotype? I detected a note of prejudice that really stuck with me and bugged me. Hence the 1 star. I cannot recommend this novel, but it's clear that I'm in the minority here.

Shirley Hazard is, without a doubt, a highly skilled wordsmith.

She has the remarkable ability to craft beautiful sentences and string them together in a way that creates an exhilarating musicality. This talent she demonstrates consistently. However, it seems that she struggles when it comes to writing a truly first-rate novel.

"The Great Fire" almost achieved that status but ultimately fell short for me due to Hazard's rather obfuscating and belittling worship of romantic love. The central relationship in that novel resembled a fairy tale.

Hazard is at her best when her characters are figuratively standing beneath a window in the pouring rain. But this sensibility belongs to a bygone era.

As such, it can often come across as something sentimental that we still feel affection for but have outgrown. It's as if she needs to follow Fitzgerald's example in "Gatsby" - stand outside her own romanticism, project it elsewhere, and see it for what it truly is, a sustained act of heightened imagination that is ultimately an illusion.

"The Transit of Venus" is a novel centered around affairs of the heart. Many of these are illicit or at least outside the bounds of matrimony. The characters only truly come alive when their hearts are engaged and pumping.

This novel reminded me a great deal of Rosamond Lehman's "The Echoing Grove" - with its theme of two sisters, one rebellious and the other more willing to compromise to the dictates of domesticity, and the romantic lyrical nature of the novel's sensibility.

Lehman, however, did a better job of exploring the backstage aspects of domesticity without belittling it as Hazard often does. Hazard shows little interest in her domesticated female characters until they are contemplating adultery.

She isn't really interested in anyone unless they are about to step out into a storm. As I mentioned, there is much to admire in the writing itself. But as a novel, some elements jarred for me - such as her attempts to politicize the text when one of her triumphs is to transcend the era.

Immediately and easily, it becomes a favorite. The writing is so rich, technical, and emotive, with flourishes that draw the reader in rather than alienate. Hazzard's inventive prose is spare and poetic, and her use of measure words is truly unmatched. It is a brilliant novel whose narration perfectly matches its impressive and ambitious 40+ year scope and fatalistic, astronomical themes. The comedy (and tragedy) succeeds because of the strong foundation of each character's interior world. Their internal systems function smoothly and seamlessly every time they repeat, pulling the reader deeper and deeper in. This machine is so adept that you will forgive Hazzard for the number of times her lovers meet on the street by happenstance. You will equally praise her for the foreshadowing and be left in awe by the revelations in the last third of the novel. I took great pleasure in what I would call the ambiguity of the novel's final pages when it comes to the book's principal subject - whether happiness in love is possible for a girl like Caro, for a girl like you or me.

It will be reread within a few months. I haven't found a book this good in years! And to think this one also came to me physically and on a whim as well...