Great Southern Land

The Thorn Birds
by Colleen McCullough

Genre; Australian/Fiction/Drama
Publisher; Avon Books/New York/1977
Pages; 673
ISBN; 978-0-06-083755-6

Plot; The Australian Outback is tough. Only the brave attempt it and only the strongest survive.

The Thorn Birds chronicles the lives of three generations of the Cleary family as they struggle through life in the beautiful, yet dangerous and hard, Australian Outback. They start as a lower middle class family of five sons and one daughter in the New Zealand countryside and end up riding the great adventure which is the Australian bush, combating drought, flood and fire.

The story focuses on Meggie Cleary as she grows from a small child to a mature woman, all under the loving eye of priest Father Ralph be Bricassart, a haunted man who loves the church, but is also helplessly drawn the the young woman he has seen bloom.

My Thoughts; A brilliant story told by a brilliant storyteller. I have been witness to the genius which is Colleen McCullough before, but I can now see why she is considered one of Australia's best, and most loved, authors.

From the moment I turned the first page I was engrossed in this epic tale, not only as an Australian, but as a living breathing person.

Each character and event is mesmerising and I know that this story will stay with me for a very long time. I don't think I have had such strong feelings while reading a book, as I did with this tale. I felt as though every moment of pain and every moment of happiness was extended to me as I leafed through the pages.

McCullough has masterfully constructed this story.

There are plenty of tears to be shed throughout this story, I do warn you, but McCullough times them beautifully. Just as you come to understand and accept one moment of upset you are introduced to the next. Each moment is far enough away to give the reader time to adjust, without being so far they loose interest.

Having said this, Justine, whose time of introduction is again immaculate, is the character who gives this story the light comic relief it needs, just at the right moments.

I am not a fan of environmental description, meaning I do not usually like pages and pages of descriptive talk of rolling hills and crystal blue lakes. Fortunately McCullough's beautiful depictions of the Australian countryside are intoxicating (and not just because I am Australian).

I honestly cannot think of any negative feedback for this genuine chunk of golden literature.

The Thorn Birds is a book for all readers. It swoons with romance, it works the land, it dabbles in intrigue, it combats disaster and it shows the true nature of life.

Enjoy!

The Bennet Sisters

The Independence of
Miss Mary Bennet
by Colleen McCullough

Genre; Fiction/Historical
Publisher; HarperCollins/Australia/2008
Pages; 467
ISBN; 978-0-7322-8722-1

Plot; Ever wonder what the future may have held for the Bennet sisters after Jane Austen had finished putting pen to paper...

Would Darcy and Lizzie's marriage stay as passionate as it was in the beginning, or would Darcy's inability to show emotion be a hurdle?
Would Jane and Mr Bingley stay as innocently happy once the children had begun to flood in?
Would Lydia stay as naive and quick to pounce as she grew older?
Would Kitty remain a giggling mess of impropriety?
And, would Mary continue to be the black sheep?

My Thoughts; How can you not love a book about Austen's favorite sisters that ends with, "circumcised!" Jane may turn over in her grave with that one, but I can whole-heartedly say I loved every moment of this book!

As you read this book you think to yourself at times, "Oh, Ms Austen would have loved that" and at other times you think, "Oh, glad she isn't around to read that bit". That is the brilliance of this book, it takes a classic and appropriates it to our modern tastes.

I think I can honestly add this title to my top ten reads. There was not one moment while reading this book that I wasn't entertained or enthralled. McCullough has taken much loved characters and flown them to a new level of appreciation.

After reading Pride and Prejudice I often thought up what may have happened to the characters once Austen had left them. I always imagined that there would be dramas in the Darcy marriage and that the Bingley marriage would be a fairly cordial one, for the most part, but McCullough's imagination has taken them much further that I ever could have thought up.

I am a thinker. A quarter of the way into any book and I think I have it fairly well worked out, sometimes I am right, sometimes not. This book kept me guessing. I continued an Austen line of thought, imagining marriage proposals, propriety and impropriety, meddlesome characters playing cupid.. You can imagine my surprise, and pleasure, as I read about hidden treasure, child slavery, highwaymen.

Now, don't let this put you off, I do not mean to make it sound at all melodramatic. I am quite comfortable saying that I believe any fan of the Austen classics will enjoy this story.

The characters are just as one may imagine them to be, and so much more. McCullough has really shaped these characters well, just as she has delved in the relationships, be them marriages or siblings, to give them so much depth.

One thing I will say, it was a little hard to get used to Mr Darcy being referred to as Fitz. Every time the name Fitz was mentioned I would think, "who.. oh that's right, Mr Darcy". Maybe that is borne from years of swooning over the Darcy of Pride and Prejudice, which I must admit, wasn't too "swoony" in this one.

Would Austen liked it? Well.. I think she would like how the characters have developed, she may be a little frightened by some of the language and themes, but all in all I believe she would enjoy it.

I wonder, if she had written a sequel, where she would have taken the Bennet girls? Any thoughts?

My recommendation; If you enjoyed the original, I believe you will enjoy this. If you have seen the movies, I believe you will enjoy this. If you have never read or seen Pride and Prejudice, I believe you will enjoy this. Give it a go!

Happy Reading!