Lady’s husband Richard left her while Lady was crouched over the toilet in the master bedroom, scrubbing the bowl with a blue coarse sponge.

An exclusive excerpt of actor Juliet Stevenson reading Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus with an introduction from our own Carol Edgarian.

That we have tea to drink. That late-winter sunlight streams through the living room windows. That the dog has a bed to sleep on or a couch if he prefers.