The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. Short summary

5 seconds

The half-century story of one family of New Zealand poor people who managed to get their affairs straightened out and become managers of one of Australia’s largest estates.

1 minute

Four-year-old Maggie was born into a large family. Her mother did hard work every day. The children had difficulty learning in a Catholic school run by a stern nun.

The father of the family received a letter from Sister Mary, the wealthy owner of an Australian estate. She invited her brother to take over as head shepherd. As a result, the whole family moved from New Zealand to Australia.

As Maggie grew up, she fell in love with Brickassar, the parish priest, but they could not be together because he gave a chastity dinner. Maggie’s aunt was also partial to the priest. When she saw her niece spending time with him, she hated her.

Soon her aunt dies and her entire fortune goes to the church on the condition that the minister Brickassar will be appreciated. He becomes the administrator of the deceased’s estate. Maggie’s family receives the right to live on the estate as stewards. After career prospects present themselves to Brickassard, he relinquishes Maggie and leaves.