The Transit of Venus
Australian and American novelist, 1931–2016. Won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2003.
The Transit of Venus is a 1980 novel by Shirley Hazzard. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1981.
In family saga
On 2 of the 19 lists it was eligible for.
The Novel Index earns a small commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our rankings. More about how we earn.
At a glance
- Author
- Shirley Hazzard
- First published
- 1980
- Length
- 368 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- National Book Award for Fiction shortlist, 1981
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Love story, Family saga, Feminist
Is The Transit of Venus worth reading?
2 of the 19 best-of lists it could have made include it: the National Book Award for Fiction and The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 1981) | Shortlist | See the list |
| The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 53 | See the list |
Best edition of The Transit of Venus
The edition we link to is the Virago paperback (2026), 368 pages.
- Publisher
- Virago (paperback, 2026)
- Pages
- 368
- ISBN
- 9780349020907
How critics, prizes and readers rate The Transit of Venus
Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 22% of the points available on prize lists, against 10% on critics' lists and 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Transit of Venus
If you liked The Transit of Venus, try The Great Fire or The Bay of Noon.
