the thorn birds by colleen mccullough summary

I read everything I could get my hands on. In those days I lived in the middle of the countryside with no one around for miles except for a few elderly neighbors. I don’t remember where I got the book from, but somehow I came to be in the possession of a tattered old copy (which I still own). I first read this story one summer during my high school years. Meggie, in return, makes Ralph the centre of her life. Meanwhile, he cares for all the Clearys and soon learns to cherish beautiful but forlorn little Meggie. Ralph blandly shrugs off these attentions and continues his visits. Ralph is strikingly handsome “a beautiful man” and Mary, who doesn’t bother to conceal her desire for him, often goes to great lengths to see if he can be induced to break his vows.

Ralph has befriended Mary, hoping a hefty enough bequest from her to the Catholic church might liberate him from his exile. Here Meggie meets Father Ralph de Bricassart, a young, capable, and ambitious priest who, as punishment for insulting a bishop, has been relegated to a remote parish in the town of Gillanbone, near Drogheda. He accepts, and the whole family moves to the Outback. One day, Paddy receives a letter from Mary offering him a job on her estate. Paddy is poor, but has a wealthy sister, Mary Carson, who lives in Australia on an enormous sheep station called Drogheda. He is much shorter than his brothers, but very strong also, unlike the other Clearys, he has black hair and eyes. Of these brothers, her favourite is the eldest, Frank, a rebellious young man who is unwillingly preparing himself for the blacksmith’s trade. Although Meggie is a beautiful child with curly red-gold hair, she receives little coddling and must struggle to hold her own against her numerous older brothers. The epic begins with Meghann “Meggie” Cleary, a four-year-old girl living in New Zealand in the early twentieth century, the only daughter of Paddy, an Irish farm labourer, and Fee, his harassed but aristocratic-looking wife. This week I chose The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (published in 1979).

I know it’s going to be hard to wait almost a year to get to all of these books! Right now I have about fifty books on my list that I’m excited to share with you. Then every time the same thing happens – I see another book on the list that is just as good and have a hard time choosing between the two. Each week I take a look at the list of favorites that I made for this meme, and pick whichever book strikes my mood on that particular day. If you’re anything like me then you’ve probably got a long list of favorites. If you choose to participate please leave a link to your post in the comments. Each week I am featuring one of my favorite reads from the past.

The thorn birds by colleen mccullough summary