The Transit of Venus

The Transit of Venus is a 1980 novel written by Australian author Shirley Hazzard. It won the 1980 National Book Critics Circle Award.

Overview
Two orphaned Australian sisters, Caroline and Grace Bell, emigrate to England in the 1950s. A young astronomer, Ted Tice, falls in love with Caroline, and the next thirty years of his life are dedicated to his pursuit of her; however, Caroline prefers the unscrupulous Paul Ivory, a playwright. Meanwhile, Grace settles into marriage with officious bureaucrat Christian Thrale.

The Sydney Review of Books wrote of the novel: