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Colleen McCullough’s Followers (3,130)

Colleen McCullough

Born

in Wellington, New South Wales, Australia

June 01, 1937

Died

January 29, 2015

Genre

Historical Fiction, Romance, Memoir

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Colleen Margaretta McCullough was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and Tim.

Raised by her mother in Wellington and then Sydney, McCullough began writing stories at age 5. She flourished at Catholic schools and earned a physiology degree from the University of New South Wales in 1963. Planning become a doctor, she found that she had a violent allergy to hospital soap and turned instead to neurophysiology – the study of the nervous system's functions. She found jobs first in London and then at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

After her beloved younger brother Carl died in 1965 at age 25 while rescuing two drowning women in the waters off Crete, a shattered McCullough quit writing. S ...more

Combine Editions
Colleen McCullough’s books

Average rating: 4.19 · 493,412 ratings · 17,370 reviews · 129 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Thorn Birds 4.25 avg rating — 364,228 ratings — published 1977 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The First Man in Rome (Masters of Rome, #1) 4.13 avg rating — 24,285 ratings — published 1990	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Grass Crown (Masters of Rome, #2) 4.33 avg rating — 13,248 ratings — published 1990 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fortune's Favorites (Masters of Rome, #3) 4.40 avg rating — 8,730 ratings — published 1993 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Caesar (Masters of Rome, #5) 4.40 avg rating — 8,387 ratings — published 1997 — 60 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Caesar's Women (Masters of Rome, #4) 4.29 avg rating — 7,738 ratings — published 1996 — 60 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bittersweet 3.51 avg rating — 8,358 ratings — published 2013 — 70 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The October Horse (Masters of Rome #6) 4.34 avg rating — 6,584 ratings — published 2002 — 48 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Touch 4.07 avg rating — 6,849 ratings — published 2003 — 95 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Antony and Cleopatra (Masters of Rome, #7) 4.05 avg rating — 6,267 ratings — published 2007 — 71 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Colleen McCullough…

Series by Colleen McCullough

Masters of Rome (7 books)
by

Colleen McCullough

4.26 avg rating — 75,229 ratings

Gospodari Rima (17 books)
by

Colleen McCullough

4.08 avg rating — 6,852 ratings

Carmine Delmonico (5 books)
by

Colleen McCullough

3.48 avg rating — 5,537 ratings

Quotes by Colleen McCullough (?)

“Never forget, Caelius, that a great man makes his luck. Luck is there for everyone to seize. Most of us miss our chances; we're blind to our luck. He never misses a chance because he's never blind to the opportunity of the moment.”
― Colleen McCullough, Caesar

1167 likes

“There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to outcarol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain… Or so says the legend.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

tags: inspirational, legend

646 likes

“There are no ambitions noble enough to justify breaking someone's heart. ”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

342 likes

See all Colleen McCullough's quotes »

Polls

June 2018 New School Poll

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, 1908, 119 pages

154 votes, 47.4%

Light in August by William Faulkner, 1932, 507 pages

60 votes, 18.5%

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang 1991, 562 pages

40 votes, 12.3%

The Wreath by Sigrid Undset, 1920, 305 pages

37 votes, 11.4%

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, 1977, 692 pages

34 votes, 10.5%

325 total votes

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