I can't believe this book hasn't been made available as an audiobook until now! Juliet Stevenson did a wonderful job; it was like experiencing this brilliant novel anew. And the archival audio featuring Hazzard herself was a beautiful bonus. I got chills hearing her voice. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced listener copy.

Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus follows the lives of two orphan sisters, Caroline and Grace Bell, as they navigate love, loss, and the complexities of post-war life. Hazzard’s prose is lush and intellectually rich, blending those themes with precise, poetic, language. I found the novel’ had a bit too dense of a style and the allusions were challenging, but its beauty lies in this very complexity. It felt like a small reward after taking the time to dive deep into the story's many layers. Juliet Stevenson’s narration enhanced the experience so much! A combination of audio and text at hand probably would have provided the perfect read for me, so I could go back to reference parts/character/situations I couldn't 100% remember. I enjoy literary fiction that demands attention and reflection, and The Transit of Venus delivers a powerful, thought-provoking journey.

First and foremost, Juliet Stevenson never misses. The narration is always spot on and The Transit of Venus is no exception.

The Transit of Venus follows two sisters, Caro and Grace, as they leave Australia after the war and follows them through their adulthood.

Hazzard's prose is a bit dense at times but there is so much to be said. She really gets to the heart of the human condition in a way few authors I have read ever really have. Definitely not a quick read, but so worth it. It will stay with me for a very long time.

when hazzard is at her best, she's brilliantly capturing these kind of unspoken, purely human moments of everyday life. this had a lot of that. her writing is so great that you almost wish she didn't have to deal with anything else, but those other things are the moments of weakness.

I enjoyed the narrator a lot. This is a hefty story with a lot to keep track of. I do have a physical copy that I would pull out and read alongside the audio at times just to stay on top of what was going on.

Pros: I first heard about this book on Anne Bogel's podcast One Great Book. Although I was intimidated by the description shared by Bogel and coined by the author's husband that "no one should have to read it for the first time," I was encouraged to give it a try when I saw that an audiobook version was being released. I both listened to the book and read the physical copy at times. This book is incredibly erudite but not inaccessible. Even with foreshadowing of main plot points throughout the book, I was still surprised when the story came to a close. As soon as I finished the last paragraph, I turned to the first chapter to begin to read it again. I'm excited that as I begin this second read that I will no longer be reading the book for the first time.

Cons: This is not a con of the book but of me as a reader. I know much of the author's brilliance went right over my head as I did not catch on to allusions to mythology, astronomy, etc throughout. However, that did not take away from my enjoyment of the novel and inspires me to read for understanding more than plot as I reread.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau by Spotify Audiobooks for the opportunity to listen to this book.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for an ARC of this Audiobook!

“The Transit of Venus” is a modern classic, that traces post-war modern lives as the female main characters navigate their place and role in society. This novel has finally been recorded as an audiobook, and is a wonderful listening experience. I do believe with a book as dense as this one, it would have been beneficial to have a physical copy of the book to read along with the audio. I did really enjoy the narrator of this book, but would often find myself having to replay certain sections to make sure I got all the plot elements.

If you are looking to pick up this title I would suggest grabbing the physical copy of the book to read a long with it!

Spotify Audiobooks in conjunction with Spiegel & Grau released on Sept 10, 2024 Hazzard's The Transit of Venus for the first time in audio form narrated by Juliet Stevenson. I received an unabridged audio ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review. There is also as a bonus section of Hazzard reading an early chapter from the novel at the conclusion of the book that is a special treat.

I read the print of Transit of Venus over a year ago and was really excited to have this chance to revisit this book again in audio form. I will start by saying Stevenson does an excellent job of narration. She uses accents and voice inflections so beautifully that I never had any problem understanding who was speaking and her voice has such lovely cadence that it brought the beauty of Hazzard's poetic language to the forefront. It is a little hard to imagine all a first time reader might get from this audio of a very complex story. I was very glad to have a knowledge of plot and sequence of events to bring with me to this listen.

The story is of two sisters and their loves and lives in the years following WWII. Their story may seem mostly present on the page, yet it is the language and the nuances of the omnipresent narrator that makes the novel one of multiple layers and one I still feel after 2 readings I could go back to again and again and find meanings I have previously missed. Stevenson's voice has old world quality that is just prefect for this story that begins in Britain in 1948. I felt from the moment it started that 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.

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

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

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

Not sure I can even label or define this book. It is a great read but don't go into it lightly.
I didn't feel quite worthy of this read. I know I missed so much and yet It was so full I couldn't fathom all it was saying even in several sittings (like a delicious over rich dessert I wanted to inhale it but it insisted on being savored not rushed through). As soon as I finished I felt I should start again as I finally began to fully understand and I know I might read it better for 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 instance I would say the plot is not the strong point here but only in the usual ways. It has incredible heft in how it describes and shows in language where it is going.
I often felt like I was heading down a road and knew where its likely destination 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 take so much thought and there is brilliance that requires focus to fully appreciate. The plot points are subtle and so easily overlooked. (I felt grateful for the characters insights or I might have missed some completely.)

The story is of two sisters, Caro and Grace who arrive in England from Australia just after WWII. It goes on to tell of their lives and loves through the long years ahead. Grace settles in marriage early, Caro is the free spirit, looking more for a life of unconvention. This is the story of their loves, the ones they had and the ones they wanted. There is much 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 mount. Is it possible a wrong turn took you down a path that only seemed right at the time?

The Transit of Venus is a modern day classic which many have read. If , like me, you find yourself saying, I should reread that, then this audiobook is a perfect choice. The narrator brings the story and characters to life faithfully. Highly recommended.

The Transit of Venus was an excellent read. I loved the character study and the writing felt propulsive. I would read more from this author again.

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard is an undeniably well-written novel, with a complex and nuanced style that showcases Hazzard's literary skill. Her exploration of love, fate, and the inevitability of life is masterfully woven throughout the book, and these themes create a thoughtful thread that ties the entire story together.

However, I found the novel difficult to get into due to its highly intellectual and somewhat distant tone. While the writing is impressive, it sometimes felt a little too detached, making it hard for me to connect with the characters or the story on an emotional level.

Additionally, I listened to this book as an audiobook while multitasking, and I think the novel's complexity made it hard to follow in that format. At some point, I lost track of the plot, and because of the novel's subtle narrative style, I struggled to pick it back up. This one might be better suited for a focused, deep read rather than casual listening!

Audiobooks don't always work for me, and this was one such case. I kept getting distracted and could not follow the narrative. And to be honest, the pedantic tone of the narrator - who is technically very able - irritated me. I quit listening after several attempts and having reached just three hours, so I won't put a review on Goodreads or Amazon as I do plan to give the book another try in physical form.

I listened to the audio version of most of The Transit of Venus. I get why Hazzard is a great writer. I hated the characters. Just. could not finish this with so many books I want to read. Maybe she portrays a dysfunctional family and people with little or no character careening through life too well. I found it too hard to take.

I have tried for weeks with this book, but I just can’t get excited about it or find any desire to finish it. I had wanted to read it for a while, as people have said that if you want to read a great Australian novel, read one by Shirley Hazzard, and if you read one Hazzard make it The Transit of Venus. I would argue that I have read several great Australian novels, and this one does not make list.

This is the story of twin Australian young women who move to England in the 1950s after the death of the parents. Though the book was originally written in 1980, the tone reads even older than its mid-century setting. What kept me from being able to enjoy it most was this distance between I felt between myself and the characters and the plot. There was no intimacy to the novel, as if it was written to keep you at arm’s length. Finally, I just gave up.

Regardless, thank you, NetGalley, for the advanced copy of this newest edition on audio.

I’ve had The Transit of Venus on my shelf for years after reading a recommendation for it in Oprah magazine. I’d always meant to pick it up but was always distracted by other books. When I saw that the book was finally being released as an audiobook (the book was first published in 1980!) and the incomparable Juliet Stevenson would be narrating it, I knew the time had come. I loved this story of two orphaned sisters from Australia and their experiences with romance and family. It all felt so real and current and I was sad when it ended. I look forward to rereading this in the future.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

9% in and I can’t continue because the audiobook narrator does such a bad Australian accent. The writing is literary but dated.

This book felt like a large abstract painting -- you can spend hours with it and still not be sure how you feel about it.
It was a re-read for me and I really enjoyed the audiobook, Juliet Stevenson's diction brought the prose to life in a fine way. When you compare her rendition with Hazzard's own reading of Chapter 3, you can tell she enjoyed the story as much as the author herself. Shirley Hazzard carefully pored over each word in the text and her richness of language may be hard for a modern reader to wrangle with, but as a literature graduate and bibliophile I appreciated the texture of her language.

The style aside, the story itself is incredibly rich and the characters are layered and make poor choices and live with their regrets. I held my head in my hands at certain moments as the sisters suffered so many personal tragedies and the ending. And with all that said, I still do not know if I loved it or was indifferent. For now it sits at 3.75 stars for me, I will keep stewing on it.

I can tell that this is a classic for a reason, and while it might not be exactly my cup of tea, I do appreciate it!

The narration of this gorgeous rich novel is just fantastic. It's hard for me as a reader to enter this story fully because Shirley Hazzard's novels feel so anachronistic for their times, the way they resonate in my head--I keep hearing myself thinking "why is Shirley Hazzard trying to write like Thomas Hardy?--and I will continue to struggle with this question when it comes to Hazzard's prose--the deliberate almost paradoxical turning-away of any phrasing choice contemporary to her time. It's like coming across a great, great practitioner of scrimshaw or tatting or caber tossing. She is a genius. The narration is gorgeous and appropriately lush. Despite these true statements, I can't love it.

I completely understand why this book took 27 drafts. It is one of those novels that make me want to silence my pen forever because I’ll never craft a sentence as beautiful as any contained within these pages.

“The Transit of Venus” follows two orphaned sisters from Australia who begin their lives anew in post-war England. It is not at all a period I am familiar with but it felt very real. We watch them grow from youth to adulthood seeing how they change in response to various relationships and it’s such a treat.

I wish I had read this for school, though I do not know if I would have held as much love for it if I had. It just begs to be discussed. I want to talk about beauty and the different descriptions of it. I want to talk about power and morality, youth, and love, of course, love. I want to hear about things I’ve missed because I know there must have been a motif (or several ) that soared happily over my head.

Weirdly, it gave me a similar feeling to when I read Jane Austen’s writing. I was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the observations made and how funny they often were.

I appreciated the narration, firstly, because I had never heard of the book and it only appeared on my radar through NetGalley, and secondly because the reader did a fantastic job.

It is very much a character driven work so depending where the focus fell it did not always capture my attention. The audiobook helped here because I was able to get through some of the slower sections where it might have taken me longer reading the physical work.

The absolute best would have been to have both versions because there are so many lines that beg to be highlighted and revisited and I have not mastered the skill of audio-clipping.

I always read introductions last because ever since Catch-22’s ending was spoiled in one I’ve learned to avoid them. Really glad I returned to it because I had very similar feelings to Lauren Groff and it was cool to see.

I am so, so glad I read this book which will go down as not just one of my favorite classics, but one of the most beautifully written books I’ve read in my entire life.

I absolutely adore sibling relationships. It is one of the main reasons I wanted to read this. That is the main reason this book did not rank even higher with me, The lack of feeling I had for Caro and Grace’s bond is utterly unlike me, and kept Venus from attaining visibility. There was this distance I would feel from the characters sometimes that kept me from fully engaging.

I am grateful to Spotify for approving my request for this e-audiobook without which I might have never known about this absolute treasure, rightly called a masterpiece.