num_pages: 540
description: Colleen McCullough's sweeping saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback has enthralled readers the world over. This is the chronicle of three generations of Clearys, ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. Most of all, it is the story of only daughter Meggie and her lifelong relationship with the haunted priest Father Ralph de Bricassartâ€”an intense joining of two hearts and souls that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma. A poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit, Colleen McCullough's acclaimed masterwork remains a monumental literary achievementâ€”a landmark novel to be cherished and read again and again.
language: English
title: The Thorn Birds
titlecomplete: The Thorn Birds
characters: Ralph de Bricassart, Fiona "Fee" Cleary, Stuart "Stu" Cleary, Meghann "Meggie" Cleary, Jack Cleary, Luddie Mueller, Mary Elizabeth Cleary Carson, Luke O'Neill, Dane O'Neill, Bob Cleary, Padraic "Paddy" Cleary, Justine O'Neill, Harold "Hal" Cleary, Archbishop (later Cardinal) Vittorio di Contini-Verchese, Hughie Cleary, Francis "Frank" Cleary, Rainer "Rain" Moerling Hartheim, Anne Mueller, James and Patrick "Jims and Patsy" Cleary
genres: Drama, Historical, Adult, Historical Romance, Novels, Romance, Classics, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Australia
ratings_count: 344725
places: Outback, New Zealand, Australia, Vatican City
publisher: Avon Books