The Thorn Birds

I adore sweeping family sagas with strong women characters and with tragedy, romance, and heartache set in Australia, The Thorn Birds is a beautiful example of the genre.

Meggie is rebellious and headstrong and makes questionable choices, but we empathize and root for her. All the well-rounded characters each come with their own secrets that will keep you turning pages.

This is the oldest book on my list, and one of my all-time favorites. The Thorn Birds tells the sweeping story of Meggie Cleary and her life in rural Australia in the early 20th century. But it is her forbidden decades-long love affair with the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart, that is at its heart. This story grabbed me for its immersive qualities, certainly. But it’s the intensity of their forbidden relationship that makes it tragic in a way that settles into your soul. How does one survive a life without the love you yearn for? And how… show more.

The first book that will take you to another world is McCullough’s The Thorn Birds. I read this book when I was in my teens, and it made such an impression that I can still vividly remember details to this day. The rich sense of setting in rural Australia, the hardships of the family, the forbidden love between Meg and Father Ralph, it all remains burned in my mind. I love a sweeping saga that involves family, and The Thorn Birds does not disappoint. The reader invests in these characters, and struggles beside them, and to me, that is… show more.

I love an epic family saga, and this book has it all—sweeping Australian countryside, forbidden love, family conflict, and, most of all, a struggling girl growing up to find herself, her voice, and her strength through whatever life throws her way. Meggie Cleary may not have been born with any advantages, but she makes the best of what she’s given and overcomes. Her metamorphosis from unfavored girl to strong woman deserves regular re-reads.

Setting is a looming character in Gothic stories of all types, and the harsh Australian landscape of the early 1900s featured in The Thorn Birds is no exception. While reading, I often felt the need to shower to clean the dust, smoke, and grime that the characters were experiencing off of me. Characters in sagas are like family: you don’t have to like them to care about them. While I couldn’t personally relate to any of the main players, I was invested in their drama until the end. And, yes, I cried for them as well. All the feels!