num_pages: 692
description: Spanning three generations and an infinite range of human emotions, The Thorn Birds is the story of a singular family, the Clearys, who leave New Zealand to live on a vast Australian sheep station, where their triumphs and tragedies are interwoven with the wonder and terror of a land ravaged by cycles of drought, fire, and torential flood. But most of all, it is the story of Meggie, who falls madly in love with a man she can never marry, and of Ralph, a truly beautiful man, whose ambition takes hm from Outback parish priest to the inner circles of the Vatican-but whose love for Meggie Cleary will lead to a passion he cannot control. The novel begins in 1915 and ends more than half a century later, when the only survivor of the third generation, Justine, a brillant London actress, sets a course of life and love halfway around the world from her roots.
language: English
title: The Thorn Birds
titlecomplete: The Thorn Birds
characters: Luke O'Neill, Ralph de Bricassart, Harold "Hal" Cleary, Stuart "Stu" Cleary, Mary Elizabeth Cleary Carson, Anne Mueller, Luddie Mueller, Bob Cleary, Padraic "Paddy" Cleary, Meghann "Meggie" Cleary, Jack Cleary, Rainer "Rain" Moerling Hartheim, James and Patrick "Jims and Patsy" Cleary, Francis "Frank" Cleary, Fiona "Fee" Cleary, Dane O'Neill, Archbishop (later Cardinal) Vittorio di Contini-Verchese, Justine O'Neill, Hughie Cleary
genres: Australia, Historical Fiction, Historical, Novels, Drama, Classics, Historical Romance, Adult, Romance, Fiction
ratings_count: 344615
places: Vatican City, Outback, New Zealand, Australia
publisher: Avon