The Transit of Venus

Shirley Hazzard

£10.99

Reissue of this highly acclaimed Virago Modern Classic, a 'finely written, beautiful and tragic novel' – Hermione Lee, FT

Out of stock

Publish Date: 22/01/2026
ISBN: 9780349020907 Category: Tag:

Description

'One of the great English-language novels of the twentieth century' PARIS REVIEW
'The Transit of Venus is astronomical: as sharp, remote and dazzling as a celestial body' LAUREN GROFF
'A wonderfully mysterious book . . . unforgettably rich' ANNE TYLER
'Epic and microscopic . . . stitched in prose of gorgeously sustained intensity' GEOFF DYER

The tragedy is not that love doesn't last. The tragedy is the love that lasts.

Two sisters, Caroline and Grace Bell, leave Australia to begin a new life in post-war England. Courted long and hopelessly by young scientist, Ted Tice, strong-willed Caro is to find that love brings both betrayal and hope. The milder Grace seeks fulfilment in an apparently happy marriage. But as the decades pass and their paths weave and cross across the world – from Sydney to London, New York to Stockholm – two slow-burning secrets wait in ambush for them.

Shirley Hazzard's breathtaking masterpiece is an intricately plotted Greek tragedy, a sweeping family saga, and a desperate love story.

Additional information

Weight 291 g
Dimensions 196 × 126 × 26 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

352

Language

English

Edition

Reprint

Dewey

823.914 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K