Colleen McCullough (1937–2015)
Author of The Thorn Birds
About the Author
Colleen McCullough was born on June 1, 1937 in Wellington, New South Wales, Australia. She attended Holy Cross College and the University of Sydney. She wanted to pursue a career in medicine but had an allergic reaction to the antiseptic soap that surgeons use to scrub. She decided to study show more neuroscience and established the department of neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney before working as a researcher and teacher at Yale Medical School for ten years. Her first novel, Tim, was published in 1974 and was adapted into a movie starring Mel Gibson. During her lifetime, she wrote 25 novels including The Thorn Birds, An Indecent Obsession, A Creed for the Third Millennium, The Ladies of Missalonghi, the Masters of Rome series, and Bittersweet. The Thorn Birds was adapted into a U.S. television mini-series in 1983, which won four Golden Globe awards. She died after a long illness on January 29, 2015 at the age of 77. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Colleen McCullough
The First Man in Rome / The Grass Crown / Fortune's Favorites / Caesar's Women / Caesar (1998) 26 copies
A viagem de Morgan 9 copies
1996 6 copies
Uccelli di rovo : condensato di : "The thorn birds" di Colleen Mccullogh ; I giovedì della signora giulia : condensato di : "I giovedì della signora Giulia" di Piero Chiara — Author — 3 copies
The October Horse, Vol. II 3 copies
The October Horse, Vol. I 3 copies
Tvismadarak 1 copy
CÉSAR ET CLÉOPÂTRE 1 copy
The Birthday Present 1 copy
Die Dornenvögel Collection 1 copy
P©Łssaros feridos 1 copy
Associated Works
Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1987 v03: Bolt / The Night Lives On / The Choice / The Ladies of Missalonghi / Night of the Fox (1987) — Author — 26 copies
Reader's Digest Auswahlbücher 159 - Bittere Medizin. Die Ladies von Missalonghi. Der Tunnel. Meine Zeit mit Anne Frank (1977) 13 copies
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: The Long Kill • The Ladies of Missalonghi • Exodus Genesis • Just Another Kid (1989) — Author — 3 copies
Het Beste Boek 90: Domineeskinderen / De bewonderaar / De doornvogels / De Cheetahs 2 copies, 1 review
Het Beste Boek 138: Storm over Schouwen / Doodsangst / Missy / Met dodelijke afloop (1989) 2 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- McCullough, Colleen
- Legal name
- McCullough, Colleen Margaretta
- Other names
- McCullough-Robinson, Colleen
- Birthdate
- 1937-06-01
- Date of death
- 2015-01-29
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of Sydney
Holy Cross College, Woollahra, Australia - Occupations
- neurophysiologist
novelist
researcher
teacher - Organizations
- New York Academy of Sciences
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Yale Medical School, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Great Ormond Street Hospital - Awards and honors
- Order of Australia (Officer, 2006)
Australian Living Treasure (1997)
Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1978) - Agent
- Michael V. Carlisle (InkWell Management Literary Agency)
- Relationships
- Robinson, Ric (spouse)
- Short biography
- Colleen McCullough was born in Wellington, an outback town in Australia. Her family life was somewhat rough, her mother being rather aggressive toward her and burning any manuscripts of Colleen's she found. In adulthood, McCullough attempted to become a surgeon, but developed an allergic reaction to the surgical soap and switched to neuroscience. After several years working abroad, she received a position at the famed Yale University. It was during this time that she wrote Tim and her most famous novel, The Thorn Birds. Her success forced her to retire from teaching, and she eventually settled on the isolated Norfolk Island, where she lives with husband Ric Robinson, a descendant of the Bounty mutineers.
In recent years, McCullough has completed numerous novels, including the controversial The Independence of Mis Mary Bennet, her Masters of Rome series, and several stand along works. She is a National Living Treasure of Australia and still uses a typewriter to complete her novels. - Cause of death
- renal failure
- Nationality
- Australia
- Birthplace
- Wellington, New South Wales, Australia
- Places of residence
- Norfolk Island, Australia
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
London, Middlesex, England, UK
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Place of death
- Norfolk Island, Australia
- Burial location
- Emily Bay Cemetery, Norfolk Island, Australia
- Map Location
- Australia
Members
Discussions
ANZAC Author Reading Challenge- February 2015- Cate Kennedy & Maurice Shadbolt in 75 Books Challenge for 2015 (March 2015)
New book "The Independence of Mary Bennett" - any thoughts? in I Love Jane Austen (June 2010)
Reviews
One of the worst cases of plagiarism it has been my misfortune to stumble across, Colleen McCullough's The Ladies of Missalonghi reads like an Australianized version of L.M. Montgomery's Canadian classic, The Blue Castle. Lest my fellow readers think that I am overzealous in defending the honor of a book that I freely acknowledge as one of the recurring pleasures of my adolescence, I will offer a point-by-point comparison...
The Blue Castle:
Valancy Stirling, spinster, lives with her mother show more and her Cousin Stickles...
Part of the Stirlings, a large extended clan that founded & dominates the town of Deerwood...
As poor relations, they must scrape by the best they can,
and Valancy is pitied for being an undesirable Old Maid...
Valancy's secret "guilty" pleasure: Nature Books from the local library...
Valancy suffers from mysterious and recurring pain in her chest...
Rakish outsider named Barney Snaith appears in town, is thought to be an "escaped convict..."
B.S. has a history of being ill-used by his lady love...
Valancy eventually rebels against the stricture of her joyless life, leaves her mother's house, and marries B.S., all while believing herself to be dying...
The Ladies of Missalonghi:
Missy Wright, spinster, lives with her mother and her Aunt Olivia...
Part of the Hurlingfords, a large extended clan that founded and dominates the town of Byron...
As poor relations, they scrape by the best they can, and Missy is pitied for being a plain Old Maid...
Missy's "guilty" pleasure: reading romantic novels from the lending library...
Missy suffers from a mysterious and recurring pain in her side...
Rakish outsider named John Smith appears in town, is thought to be a "jailbird..."
J.S. has a history of being ill-used by his lady love...
Missy eventually rebels against the constraints of her "starved" life, leaves her mother's house, and marries J.S., all while pretending to be dying...
I could go on (there are PLENTY of other examples), but I think the reader takes my point?
McCullough does manage to do a FEW things differently from Montgomery, cutting out the entire sub-plot of the sick friend that the heroine (Valancy) nurses, despite the social stigma of associating with a "fallen" woman. Worthy deeds are apparently more Montgomery's stock-in-trade, whereas McCullough contents herself by "sexing" things up a bit, with a few throwaway lines that the heroine herself doesn't really understand. What's so funny, she wonders, about referring to a young man as "limp?" Also notable is the moment when John Smith considers roughing Missy up a bit in bed, "not rape her exactly, just force her a little"(149), in order to dissuade her from marriage. What could be more appealing in a romantic hero, especially one modeled on my beloved Barney Snaith...?
Somebody, please pass me a blowtorch... show less
The Blue Castle:
Valancy Stirling, spinster, lives with her mother show more and her Cousin Stickles...
Part of the Stirlings, a large extended clan that founded & dominates the town of Deerwood...
As poor relations, they must scrape by the best they can,
and Valancy is pitied for being an undesirable Old Maid...
Valancy's secret "guilty" pleasure: Nature Books from the local library...
Valancy suffers from mysterious and recurring pain in her chest...
Rakish outsider named Barney Snaith appears in town, is thought to be an "escaped convict..."
B.S. has a history of being ill-used by his lady love...
Valancy eventually rebels against the stricture of her joyless life, leaves her mother's house, and marries B.S., all while believing herself to be dying...
The Ladies of Missalonghi:
Missy Wright, spinster, lives with her mother and her Aunt Olivia...
Part of the Hurlingfords, a large extended clan that founded and dominates the town of Byron...
As poor relations, they scrape by the best they can, and Missy is pitied for being a plain Old Maid...
Missy's "guilty" pleasure: reading romantic novels from the lending library...
Missy suffers from a mysterious and recurring pain in her side...
Rakish outsider named John Smith appears in town, is thought to be a "jailbird..."
J.S. has a history of being ill-used by his lady love...
Missy eventually rebels against the constraints of her "starved" life, leaves her mother's house, and marries J.S., all while pretending to be dying...
I could go on (there are PLENTY of other examples), but I think the reader takes my point?
McCullough does manage to do a FEW things differently from Montgomery, cutting out the entire sub-plot of the sick friend that the heroine (Valancy) nurses, despite the social stigma of associating with a "fallen" woman. Worthy deeds are apparently more Montgomery's stock-in-trade, whereas McCullough contents herself by "sexing" things up a bit, with a few throwaway lines that the heroine herself doesn't really understand. What's so funny, she wonders, about referring to a young man as "limp?" Also notable is the moment when John Smith considers roughing Missy up a bit in bed, "not rape her exactly, just force her a little"(149), in order to dissuade her from marriage. What could be more appealing in a romantic hero, especially one modeled on my beloved Barney Snaith...?
Somebody, please pass me a blowtorch... show less
I started to get more interested in ancient Rome (particularly the Republic) after the HBO series started. I read Tom Holland's excellent Rubicon and knew I needed more--especially on Marius and Sulla, two of the most fascinating characters of this or any historical period. When I learned of McCullough's series, I began with this one and was immediately hooked. I've read all seven, but my favorites are the first 3 or 4.
I really appreciated the way she was faithful to the known history but show more filled in the unknown areas with reasonable and interesting guesses (e.g., Sulla's first wife probably wasn't Julius Caesar's other aunt, if he had more than one, but she was a Julia). There are dozens of interpretations that she makes (and usually explains in the notes at the end) that are usually so well thought-out and ring true to the known history. Her take on Caesar's epilepsy was particularly interesting and reflects her expertise as a medical doctor (a perspective most historians can't draw on). Her explanation of how Marius made J.C. the flamen dialis, a priesthood that would have prevented any kind of military or significant political career, was ingenious. It's clear (and she points out as much in her afterwords) that some things may not have happened the way she portrays them. But you never get the sense that, like some historical fiction writers, she's changing the history to fit her story. Instead, she tries to understand sometimes conflicting facts to arrive at a plausible rationale.
But, mainly, it's the characters that give this series life. Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, and Julius Caesar are living, breathing human beings. She gets inside their heads, and you really get the sense that you know and understand these historical giants, who all were contemporaries of one another and of other legendary figures--Marc Antony, Cicero, Pompey Magnus, Crassus, Spartacus, Brutus, Cassius, and on and on.
I was never that interested in Roman history as a student, with its emphasis on the imperial period. But I think I find something tragic and bittersweet about the end of the republic, which, after all, was a functioning form of democracy more than 2,000 years ago. These men all held the ideal of the republic dear, but they just couldn't help destroying it, blinded as they were by their own hubris, greed, and ambition. It's a fascinating and exhilarating story, and the best way I can think of to understand this important period of Western history. show less
I really appreciated the way she was faithful to the known history but show more filled in the unknown areas with reasonable and interesting guesses (e.g., Sulla's first wife probably wasn't Julius Caesar's other aunt, if he had more than one, but she was a Julia). There are dozens of interpretations that she makes (and usually explains in the notes at the end) that are usually so well thought-out and ring true to the known history. Her take on Caesar's epilepsy was particularly interesting and reflects her expertise as a medical doctor (a perspective most historians can't draw on). Her explanation of how Marius made J.C. the flamen dialis, a priesthood that would have prevented any kind of military or significant political career, was ingenious. It's clear (and she points out as much in her afterwords) that some things may not have happened the way she portrays them. But you never get the sense that, like some historical fiction writers, she's changing the history to fit her story. Instead, she tries to understand sometimes conflicting facts to arrive at a plausible rationale.
But, mainly, it's the characters that give this series life. Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, and Julius Caesar are living, breathing human beings. She gets inside their heads, and you really get the sense that you know and understand these historical giants, who all were contemporaries of one another and of other legendary figures--Marc Antony, Cicero, Pompey Magnus, Crassus, Spartacus, Brutus, Cassius, and on and on.
I was never that interested in Roman history as a student, with its emphasis on the imperial period. But I think I find something tragic and bittersweet about the end of the republic, which, after all, was a functioning form of democracy more than 2,000 years ago. These men all held the ideal of the republic dear, but they just couldn't help destroying it, blinded as they were by their own hubris, greed, and ambition. It's a fascinating and exhilarating story, and the best way I can think of to understand this important period of Western history. show less
My Review from my old books blog dated 2009
SPOILERS
Everyone who has ever read good literature knows about the Bennets. That family from Pride and Prejudice with 5 daughters - Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Lydia and Kitty.
The time is now 20 years after the end of P&P. Mrs Bennet has just died. And everyone gets together for the funeral.
Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy are still married. They have 5 children - Charles, Georgiana, Susan, Anne and Cathy. The Bennet Curse is what Darcy calls it. Their show more marriage is floundering because there are no more sons and the one son they do have, is not living up to Darcy's expectations. Darcy no longer visits Lizzie's bed.
Jane is still married to Charles Bingley. They have 8 living children (7 boys and 1 girl) but Jane has lost 4 other babies and she looks older than her years.
Lydia ia still Mrs George Wickam, but is now an alcoholic (in modern terms). George has been sent to various wars and lately to America - purely to keep him away from Lydia. Once again this is Darcy's doing.
Kitty had made the best marriage. She married Lord Menadew. She had a coming out season in London and was able to capture a Lord.
Caroline Bingley is still not married and she still lusts after Fitzwilliam Darcy.
And then there is Mary. The middle Bennet daughter. The one who was left to care for Mama Bennet after the other daughters all had their scandals and left home. Darcy has paid an allowance to Mary to care for Mrs Bennet for the last 17 years.
Mary has not be a docile daughter for all these years. No way. She has read every single book in the library. When she finally meets up with Elizabeth at their mothers funeral, she can see how tired Jane is from so many pregnancies. She makes a statement to Elizabeth that is shocking.
"I know I am not supposed to be aware of such things, Lizzie, but can't someone tell brother Charles to plug it with a cork??"
"Mary!! How do you know of such things, How can you be so indelicate?" exclaims Lizzie in shock.
"I know because I have read every book in the library, and I am tired of delicacy about subjects that lie so close to our female fates." is Mary's reply.
This is the first sign of Mary being independent. Fitzwilliam tries to have Mary come live at Pemberley as a proper spinster of their class should. Mary refuses and makes her own plans. Mary has become enamoured of a person named Argus who writes letters to the newspapers about the social inequalities between the upper and lower classes.
Mary decide to write a book about the poor people and the best way to know about the poor, is to go out and live like a poor person. So Mary sets out on a trip by stage coach (not the post mail which is for the upper class). She is leered at and groped by men and gets lost of the hills of Darbyshire. When she refuses one too many men, she is hit over the head by one man and then abducted by another man. She is then forced to be his scribe and to write down his thoughts on religion. He has a following of young children, who disappear when they turn 12 or 13.
For 2 months the family search for her - most of this searching is done by Ned Summers - a half black man (his mother was from Jamaica) and a very close friend of Darcy's. Darcy too has secrets, secrets he has never told Lizzie in 20 years of marriage.
Finally Mary is able to escape from her captor and is eventually found and rescued. The Bennets decide to start up an orphanage for these children who have no idea where they come from and therefore have no home parish to go to.
Lizzie and Fitzwilliam beging talking and Lizzie explains why she no longer allows Fitz into her bed. She felt that he raped her on their wedding night. What to him was passion, to her was rape (although she did not use that word). She said it was by force. She would lay there as a statue while he did his business. This went on for the next 10 years until he stopped visiting.
Fitzwilliam is devastated about how his actions were perceived. He promises to show Lizzie how good love can really be. At age 50, his passions are no longer uncontrollable as they used to be when he was 30.
There are 2 deaths within the Bennet family. One is a Bennet daughter. The other is Ned Summers. Finally all the secrets are coming out.
Oh and Mary (by now only 36) finds her true love and gets married as well. She gives birth to a healthy boy. Lizzie too has another child (at age 41) - finally a second son.
I really really enjoyed this book. I love Mary. I too am a middle child and I too an somewhat independent. I love how Mary tries her best to be independent in that day and age (early 1800s) but how she is used and abused just because it is assumed, by the men, that women have no brains and are good for nothing except making babies. Even in the 21st century, men still think this way about women.
GRR that makes me so MAD!!! show less
SPOILERS
Everyone who has ever read good literature knows about the Bennets. That family from Pride and Prejudice with 5 daughters - Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Lydia and Kitty.
The time is now 20 years after the end of P&P. Mrs Bennet has just died. And everyone gets together for the funeral.
Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy are still married. They have 5 children - Charles, Georgiana, Susan, Anne and Cathy. The Bennet Curse is what Darcy calls it. Their show more marriage is floundering because there are no more sons and the one son they do have, is not living up to Darcy's expectations. Darcy no longer visits Lizzie's bed.
Jane is still married to Charles Bingley. They have 8 living children (7 boys and 1 girl) but Jane has lost 4 other babies and she looks older than her years.
Lydia ia still Mrs George Wickam, but is now an alcoholic (in modern terms). George has been sent to various wars and lately to America - purely to keep him away from Lydia. Once again this is Darcy's doing.
Kitty had made the best marriage. She married Lord Menadew. She had a coming out season in London and was able to capture a Lord.
Caroline Bingley is still not married and she still lusts after Fitzwilliam Darcy.
And then there is Mary. The middle Bennet daughter. The one who was left to care for Mama Bennet after the other daughters all had their scandals and left home. Darcy has paid an allowance to Mary to care for Mrs Bennet for the last 17 years.
Mary has not be a docile daughter for all these years. No way. She has read every single book in the library. When she finally meets up with Elizabeth at their mothers funeral, she can see how tired Jane is from so many pregnancies. She makes a statement to Elizabeth that is shocking.
"I know I am not supposed to be aware of such things, Lizzie, but can't someone tell brother Charles to plug it with a cork??"
"Mary!! How do you know of such things, How can you be so indelicate?" exclaims Lizzie in shock.
"I know because I have read every book in the library, and I am tired of delicacy about subjects that lie so close to our female fates." is Mary's reply.
This is the first sign of Mary being independent. Fitzwilliam tries to have Mary come live at Pemberley as a proper spinster of their class should. Mary refuses and makes her own plans. Mary has become enamoured of a person named Argus who writes letters to the newspapers about the social inequalities between the upper and lower classes.
Mary decide to write a book about the poor people and the best way to know about the poor, is to go out and live like a poor person. So Mary sets out on a trip by stage coach (not the post mail which is for the upper class). She is leered at and groped by men and gets lost of the hills of Darbyshire. When she refuses one too many men, she is hit over the head by one man and then abducted by another man. She is then forced to be his scribe and to write down his thoughts on religion. He has a following of young children, who disappear when they turn 12 or 13.
For 2 months the family search for her - most of this searching is done by Ned Summers - a half black man (his mother was from Jamaica) and a very close friend of Darcy's. Darcy too has secrets, secrets he has never told Lizzie in 20 years of marriage.
Finally Mary is able to escape from her captor and is eventually found and rescued. The Bennets decide to start up an orphanage for these children who have no idea where they come from and therefore have no home parish to go to.
Lizzie and Fitzwilliam beging talking and Lizzie explains why she no longer allows Fitz into her bed. She felt that he raped her on their wedding night. What to him was passion, to her was rape (although she did not use that word). She said it was by force. She would lay there as a statue while he did his business. This went on for the next 10 years until he stopped visiting.
Fitzwilliam is devastated about how his actions were perceived. He promises to show Lizzie how good love can really be. At age 50, his passions are no longer uncontrollable as they used to be when he was 30.
There are 2 deaths within the Bennet family. One is a Bennet daughter. The other is Ned Summers. Finally all the secrets are coming out.
Oh and Mary (by now only 36) finds her true love and gets married as well. She gives birth to a healthy boy. Lizzie too has another child (at age 41) - finally a second son.
I really really enjoyed this book. I love Mary. I too am a middle child and I too an somewhat independent. I love how Mary tries her best to be independent in that day and age (early 1800s) but how she is used and abused just because it is assumed, by the men, that women have no brains and are good for nothing except making babies. Even in the 21st century, men still think this way about women.
GRR that makes me so MAD!!! show less
A list of illustrations at the beginning essentially gives up the entire plot; reader beware, if your aim is to learn Roman history the fun way. I skipped past those and was subjected to an unlikely story full of traitors, massacres, madness and chaos that nobody would ever believe if the author wasn't so closely adhering to actual history. McCullough operates under some serious self-imposed constraints, the toughest being that she is forced to kill off her characters with the timing and show more manner of their actual deaths. That could be disastrous to the entertainment factor if not accounted for, and she accounts for it by making the right people sympathetic. Drusus unexpectedly became a new favourite of mine, and some earlier favourites less so.
The first book was good but I liked this sequel even better, probably because I had the correct expectations going in. The dialogue didn't feel as silly (even when it was silly), and the setting drew me in just as effectively despite her spending less time on it. There are sufficient events in this one volume to fill up two more of equal size, but McCullough has a schedule to keep and packs it all in, thick and fast - maybe a bit too fast in places, particularly during a certain complicated siege. In other places she can't help shoveling in more research than she strictly needs to. Several of Mithridates' scenes border on farce, especially his conversation with the high priest of Cos about the Egyptian royal family (the silliest dialogue bar none).
Good outweighs the bad, sewing everything together better than any textbook lesson can and placing the reader in all the best scenes at the right times, whether it's a battlefield or a dinner conversation. Possibly the closest thing to time travel back to this rough-and-tumble period that you're ever going to (or would ever want to) get. show less
The first book was good but I liked this sequel even better, probably because I had the correct expectations going in. The dialogue didn't feel as silly (even when it was silly), and the setting drew me in just as effectively despite her spending less time on it. There are sufficient events in this one volume to fill up two more of equal size, but McCullough has a schedule to keep and packs it all in, thick and fast - maybe a bit too fast in places, particularly during a certain complicated siege. In other places she can't help shoveling in more research than she strictly needs to. Several of Mithridates' scenes border on farce, especially his conversation with the high priest of Cos about the Egyptian royal family (the silliest dialogue bar none).
Good outweighs the bad, sewing everything together better than any textbook lesson can and placing the reader in all the best scenes at the right times, whether it's a battlefield or a dinner conversation. Possibly the closest thing to time travel back to this rough-and-tumble period that you're ever going to (or would ever want to) get. show less
Lists
The Trojan War (1)
BBC Big Read (1)
BBC Top Books (1)
Formative books (1)
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Gen X Library (1)
Women's Stories (1)
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Female Author (2)
Favourite Books (2)
THE WAR ROOM (1)
1970s (1)
al.vick-series (1)
Austenland (1)
Antigua Roma (1)
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 70
- Also by
- 9
- Members
- 30,335
- Popularity
- #653
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 606
- ISBNs
- 1,225
- Languages
- 26
- Favorited
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