Fee, now in her 40s, reveals she is again pregnant the two men quarrel violently, and Paddy tells Frank he is not his biological son. Frank resents the many pregnancies Paddy has caused her to endure. He cares for all of the Clearys and particularly cherishes forlorn little Meggie.įrank's relationship with his father, Paddy, has never been peaceful. Ralph shrugs off her attentions and ploys, and continues his visits. Ralph is 'a beautiful man', and Mary goes to great lengths to tempt him to break his vows. Ralph has befriended Mary Carson, hoping a hefty bequest from her to the Catholic Church might liberate him from his exile. As punishment for insulting a bishop, he has been relegated to a remote parish in the town of Gillanbone, near Drogheda. In Drogheda, the family meets Ralph de Bricassart, a young, capable, and ambitious priest. One day, Paddy receives an offer from Mary of a job on her estate, so in 1921, the whole Cleary family moves from New Zealand to Australia. Paddy has a wealthy sister, Mary Carson, a widow who lives in New South Wales, Australia, on Drogheda, an enormous sheep station. Unlike the other Clearys, he has black hair and eyes, believed to be inherited from his Maori great-great-grandmother. He is much shorter than his other brothers, but very strong. Her favourite brother is the eldest, Frank, a rebellious young man who is unwillingly preparing himself for the blacksmith's trade. Meggie is a beautiful child with curly red-gold hair, but receives little coddling and must struggle to hold her own in the family, which includes five older brothers at the time. The story begins in New Zealand on 8 December 1915, the fourth birthday of Meghann 'Meggie' Cleary, who is the only daughter of Padraic ('Paddy'), an Irish farm labourer, and Fiona ('Fee'), his wife. In 2022, The Thorn Birds was included on the ' Big Jubilee Read' list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The novel was also adapted into a musical in 2009, The Thorn Birds Musical. It was criticized for inconsistencies with the original series. Subsequently, a 1996 miniseries entitled The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years filled in a gap of 19 years in the middle of the novel. The novel was also adapted into an eponymous television miniseries during its 27–30 March 1983 run, it became the United States' second-highest rated miniseries of all time, behind Roots. The novel is the best-selling book in Australian history, and has sold over 33 million copies worldwide.

Set primarily on Drogheda-a fictional sheep station in the Australian Outback named after Drogheda, Ireland-the story focuses on the Cleary family and spans 1915 to 1969. The Thorn Birds is a 1977 novel by Australian author Colleen McCullough.

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough