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Colleen McCullough’s Followers (2,819)

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 · 475,801 ratings · 15,957 reviews · 95 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Thorn Birds 4.25 avg rating — 353,732 ratings — published 1977 — 402 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 — 23,266 ratings — published 1990 — 110 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 Grass Crown (Masters of Rome, #2) 4.33 avg rating — 12,674 ratings — published 1990 — 101 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) 4.39 avg rating — 8,369 ratings — published 1993 — 75 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 — 8,034 ratings — published 1997 — 8 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 — 7,357 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 3.49 avg rating — 7,858 ratings — published 2013 — 67 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) 4.33 avg rating — 6,303 ratings — published 2002 — 46 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 4.05 avg rating — 5,986 ratings — published 2003 — 93 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) 4.04 avg rating — 5,964 ratings — published 2007 — 69 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

4.25 avg rating — 71,960 ratings

Gospodari Rima (17 books)
by

Colleen McCullough

4.07 avg rating — 6,516 ratings

Carmine Delmonico (5 books)
by

Colleen McCullough

3.48 avg rating — 5,248 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

1166 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

338 likes

See all Colleen McCullough's quotes »

Polls

Which book set in Asia & the Pacific would you like to read for the August/September group read?

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

38 votes, 19.1%

The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim

33 votes, 16.6%

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

29 votes, 14.6%

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

24 votes, 12.1%

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

17 votes, 8.5%

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

15 votes, 7.5%

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

13 votes, 6.5%

The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley

10 votes, 5.0%

Gai-Jin by James Clavell

9 votes, 4.5%

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

3 votes, 1.5%

The Hell Screen by I.J. Parker

3 votes, 1.5%

The Denniston Rose by Jenny Pattrick

2 votes, 1.0%

The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb

2 votes, 1.0%

A Map of Paradise by Linda Ching Sledge

1 vote, 0.5%

199 total votes

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