The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

The Thorn Birds is a beautifully written Australian novel. This story spans over three generations of the Cleary family. It mainly centres around young, Meggie who is the only girl in the family. Meggie's mother only has eyes for her sons which leaves. Meggie feeling very unloved by her mother. Growing up there are many things, Meggie needs to know about life in general, but Meggie knows she can't ask her mother. So Meggie turns to the the local priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart for answers. Ralph is very fond of, Meggie and the more he see her the stronger his feelings become. He can also see that Meggie is also starting to have feelings for him and knows he must put a stop to this before it goes any further. 

As the story unfolds we see the Cleary family deal with love and loss and with loss comes heartache.

Though Maeve Binchy has treated the plot of The Thorn Birds seriously in her introduction to the 30th anniversary edition, the novel is simply a reworking of the staple theme of women's romantic fiction - the seduction by the daughter of the almighty father. Father, bishop, archbishop, finally cardinal, Ralph de Bricassart, with his widow's peak, electric blue eyes, hairless, athletic body, ineffable grace and penchant for sports cars, is the least probable version of the father figure ever to appear in chick lit. The seducing daughter is almost as improbable: Titian hair, unblemished skin, slender body and soul-deep innocence. As in any Georgette Heyer or Barbara Cartland novel, the distant father figure nurtures a hidden and undying passion for the needy daughter figure, which is expressed only in the faintest tremor of hand or lip, and does not burgeon into erection until she has suffered anguish and violation (and they are together at a lesser-known tourist spot). 

I absolutely LOVED this amazing story. This is the first book I've read by, Colleen McCullough and it definitely won't be my last. The descriptions of the places in this book are incredible and you can picture it all so clearly as you are reading. This was a compelling, enjoyable and emotional read. This book took me quite awhile to get through, but it's one of those books that should not be hurried.