The Thorn Birds Author:Colleen McCollough The Thorn Birds is a robust, romanist saga of a singular family, the Clearys It begins in the early part of this century, when Paddy Cleary moves his wife, Fione, and their seven childrens to Drogheda, the vast Australian sheep station owned by his autocratic and childless older sister, and it ends more than half a century later, when the only s... more »urvivor of the third generation , the brilliant actress Justine O' Neill , set a course of life and love halfway around the world from her roots.« less