Colleen McCullough

Colleen McCullough (born June 1, 1937, Wellington, New South Wales, Australia—died January 29, 2015, Norfolk Island, Australia) was an Australian novelist who worked in a range of genres but was best known for her second novel, the sweeping romance The Thorn Birds (1977; television miniseries 1983), and for her Masters of Rome series (1990–2007), a painstakingly researched fictionalized account of Rome in the age of Julius Caesar.

McCullough was born in the Australian Outback. Her family moved frequently, eventually settling in Sydney. After a period spent working odd jobs, McCullough returned to the University of Sydney (where she had briefly studied earlier) and obtained a bachelor’s degree in neurophysiology. In 1958 she founded the neurophysiology unit at the affiliated Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. Following a move to England in 1963, McCullough worked at hospitals in London and Birmingham and earned a master’s degree in neurophysiology from the University of London. She then accepted a position in the United States in the neurology department at the Yale School of Medicine, where she taught and managed the laboratory from 1967 until 1976.

McCullough, who had previously written to amuse herself, began writing for publication during this period in order to supplement her income. Her first novel, Tim (1974; film 1979), about a love affair between a learning disabled man and an older woman, was well received. It was, however, her second effort, The Thorn Birds, that won her a devoted following. The novel, which centers on a thwarted love affair between a Catholic priest and a young woman in the Outback, garnered McCullough a record advance of nearly $2 million. In 1980 she moved to isolated Norfolk Island, an Australian territory.

McCullough continued to publish, releasing An Indecent Obsession (1981; film 1985), about a ward for shell-shocked soldiers in World War II, and The Ladies of Missalonghi (1987), a romance set in Australia. In 1990 she published the first of her seven-book Masters of Rome series, The First Man in Rome. The works, which center on historical figures during the twilight of the Roman Republic, were widely praised for their meticulous adherence to historical record. The last novel, Antony and Cleopatra, was published in 2007.

McCullough’s other novels include Morgan’s Run (2000), about an 18th-century convict sent to Australia; The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet (2008), which envisions the later life of a character from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813); and the romantic Bittersweet (2013). On, Off (2006), Too Many Murders (2009), and Sins of the Flesh (2013) were entries in her murder-mystery series featuring the police captain Carmine Delmonico. She also wrote the biography The Courage and the Will: The Life of Roden Cutler, V.C. (1999).

McCullough was named a “living treasure” by the National Trust of Australia in 1997 and appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2006.