The Thorn Birds
Australian novelist, 1937–2015.
The Thorn Birds is a 1977 novel by Colleen McCullough.
In historical fiction, family saga
On 2 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- Colleen McCullough
- First published
- 1977
- Length
- 96 pages (UK paperback)
- Genre
- Historical fiction, Family saga, Love story, Religion and faith
Is The Thorn Birds worth reading?
2 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it: The Big Jubilee Read (BBC Arts and The Reading Agency) and The Big Read top 100 (BBC).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| The Big Jubilee Read (BBC Arts and The Reading Agency, 2022) | Listed | See the list |
| The Big Read top 100 (BBC, 2003) | No. 64 | See the list |
Best edition of The Thorn Birds
The edition we link to is the Longman paperback (1999), 96 pages.
- Publisher
- Longman (paperback, 1999)
- Pages
- 96
- ISBN
- 9780582418233
How critics, prizes and readers rate The Thorn Birds
Readers rate it most highly: it earned 27% of the points available on readers' and booksellers' lists, against 0% on critics' lists and 0% on prize lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Thorn Birds
If you liked The Thorn Birds, try The Grapes of Wrath, Catch-22 or Wolf Hall.
