The Transit Of Venus

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS

by Shirley Hazzard

 

Award: National Book Critics Circle 1980

 

Nominations: National Book 1981 & 1982, PEN/Faulkner 1981

 

Date Read: September 7, 2020

 

The Transit of Venus follows two sisters through their lives and loves. The sisters are orphaned at a young age in Australia and eventually move to England, then to parts beyond. Hazzard weaves a beautiful tale of falling in and out of love, love being the driving force behind life. 

 

Caroline is the more adventurous of the two, having an affair with Paul while he is engaged and then continuing again after he’s married. Ted is in love with Caroline but his love is not returned until much later in life. Caroline seems to move from relationship to relationship, loving deeply and richly, her life at its fullest when she is in a relationship with a man.

 

Grace is more subdued and is married to Christian at a young age and remains faithful to him throughout. She doesn’t fully experience the depths of love until she falls in love with her son’s doctor. Although brief, this affair of the heart allows her to experience everything her sister’s heart has already known – that loving is the raison d’etre of life.

 

While Hazzard’s notions of romantic love are somewhat outdated, she is masterful and intelligent with words. For example, Ted, in justifying him leaving his wife for Caroline at the end of the book, says, “They would manage without me if I died. Why not if I live?” And of course, he chooses to live. Love.

 

Looking Forward: The Bay of Noon, The Great Fire

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