The Thorn Birds

by Colleen McCullough

First published 1998

Meggie Cleary grows up on the vast Australian sheep station of Drogheda, where her family has toiled for generations. When the ambitious young priest Ralph de Bricassart arrives, Meggie is captivated. Their forbidden love blooms even as Ralph's career skyrockets. But the relentless Outback demands sacrifice, and Meggie must choose between the land she loves and the man she can never truly have.

Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adult-fiction, family-drama

Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, star-crossed-lovers

Setting: Australia, Drogheda, England, Greece, New Zealand, Outback, Rome, the Vatican

Period: 1915-1917, 1921-1969, xian dai

533 pages · Hardcover · Harper & Row

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