In the rugged Australian Outback, three generations of Clearys live through joy and sadness, bitter defeat and magnificent triumph — driven by their dreams, sustained by remarkable strength of character… and torn by dark passions, violence and a scandalous family legacy of forbidden love.
It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and … individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys’ only daughter, Meggie, who can never possess the man she so desperately adores — Ralph de Bricassart. Ralph will rise from parish priest to the inner circles of the Vatican… but his passion for Meggie will follow him all the days of his life.
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Better than the movie
One of my all time favorite books.
I really could not put it down. It could actually be a contempory story involving men of the cloth.
exceptional
It’s a long time since I read this book, but I recall so clearly how glued to it I was. I’ve loved this erudite author ever since, and have read ALL her books. Sadly, she died early, and we, who loved her, were devastated. I heard her once, in Seattle, and she kept the room spell bound. She’d just published her first Roman history book, and …
Good read
beautiful,tragic love story set in Australia.
One of my all time favorites.one of my all time favorites
I have reread this book several times.-one of my favorites!
One of my favorite books.
I read this book years ago and it remains on my list of favorites. It is a wonderful but tragic story. I loved it. The movie is even better.
Great story and easy to read. Loved the characters and the description
This is an oldie but a great read. Highly recommend.
A best seller in every way.
I’m as fascinated with this book now as I was when I first read it in the 1980’s. The characters came alive for me and I could hardly put it down.
My second time to read. Even better than the first..many years ago.
Everyone should read this book. It broke my heart, and I’ll never read it again, but I’m glad I read it once.
I read The Thorn Birds many years ago and was not disappointed in coming back to it.
Second time reading it . Will probably read it again. Great story
I must have read this 25 years ago so this was a re read. I guess I have a much different view of life now, so I found this maddening in its Catholic attitudes. The end of the book was very slow, almost boring . But still a wonderful read.