Parul Sehgal at the NYT calls this the perfect novel. Hazzard was a master in her time. What I love is the "Australianness" of the novel, even when it moves to various parts of England, South America, New York, etc.. Even though Hazzard's astute observations about human nature and the lot of women in those times are oftentimes depressing, the book is worth persevering with because of how much it packs into its pages. There is vast scope in a story that seems, at first, about sad passion. Too often, novels will do a great job of illustrating suffering acutely and beautifully but not about actually peeling back enough layers to understand it more fully. This is what Hazzard does here so skillfully.

Lauren Groff's intro alone makes this edition worthwhile. A star shining next to another star! She mentions that this is one of her reread books, a standby, if you will, that lasts through re-readings. This book along with George Eliot's Middlemarch, and Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, which is good company to be amongst.