Colleen McCullough
Colleen McCullough was an Australian author born in Wellington, New South Wales, in 1937. She was of Irish Catholic descent, with a mother of Maori ancestry, and had a diverse educational background that included science and humanities at Holy Cross College and the University of Sydney. Initially a neurology researcher, McCullough shifted her focus to writing, gaining prominence with her 1977 novel, *The Thorn Birds*, which explores themes of love, suffering, and the struggles of the Cleary family's generations in Australia. Her literary works spanned various genres, including historical novels, psychological narratives, and detective fiction, with notable series such as the *Masters of Rome* and the *Carmine Delmonico* mysteries.
Throughout her career, McCullough received both acclaim and criticism; while some praised her storytelling and thorough research, others questioned the marketing strategies behind her success. She was honored in 2006 as an officer of the Order of Australia for her contributions to literature. McCullough continued to publish until her final novel, *Bittersweet*, in 2013. She passed away on Norfolk Island in 2015 at the age of 77. Her works remain significant in Australian literature, characterized by their complex characters and exploration of social issues.
Colleen McCullough
Australian fiction and nonfiction writer
- Born: June 1, 1937
- Birthplace: Wellington, New South Wales, Australia
- Died: January 29, 2015
Biography
Colleen McCullough was born in Wellington, New South Wales, Australia, of Irish Catholic stock. Her mother was a New Zealander of Maori ancestry, her father a cutter of cane. She was educated at Holy Cross College and the University of Sydney. Excelling in science and widely read in the humanities, McCullough worked as a teacher, a library worker, and a bus driver. Economic realities and a soap allergy prevented a career in medicine; instead, she studied neurophysiology and became a neurology researcher in Sydney, in England, and at Yale University’s School of Internal Medicine. In 1993 Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, awarded McCullough the D.Litt. degree. On April 13, 1984, at age forty-six, McCullough married Ric Robinson, a housepainter who would later be a planter. She settled on Norfolk Island, Australia, about one thousand miles east of the mainland.
McCullough began writing seriously while at Yale, where, in the evenings, she wrote her first novel, Tim, and the novel that would establish her reputation and her professional career as a writer, The Thorn Birds. Planning, often for years, before actually writing contributed to her speedy composition.
McCullough wrote in a variety of genres. Tim, set in Sydney, can be only loosely labeled a romance, or a novel of awakenings. Tim Melville, an intellectually disabled but handsome man of twenty-five, marries a woman of forty-three in order to gain future security for himself after his mother dies. In the end, both partners grow and mature in different ways. Two important themes concern emotional and social growth and the response by society to people who are intellectually disabled.
Planned before the writing of Tim, The Thorn Birds was a great success. A saga spanning three generations treats the Cleary family, who toil with no apparent future and emigrate to Australia, only to find life there disheartening. The world of the novel is one in which women suffer at the hands of thoughtless men. Themes of suffering and of love and lust as destructive forces are developed. Although successful, the novel was not without controversy. Some reviewers attributed its success to skillful marketing rather than quality. Reading about a Roman Catholic priest breaking his vows, fathering a child, and still remaining in Rome did not resonate well with some Catholics.
An Indecent Obsession is a psychological novel set in a South Pacific army hospital near the end of World War II. It deals thematically with the social effects of homosexuality or the fear of it. A Creed for the Third Millennium is a dystopian novel. Set in the twenty-first century, the novel predicts future occurrences based on political and social trends current at the time of writing. The novelette The Ladies of Missalonghi makes an unusual use of the romance genre; some critics called it an anti-romance that undercuts the romance by showing its absurdities. The book satirizes snobbery related to wealth and social class and raises profound moral and ethical questions.
The first of the Masters of Rome series was published in 1990. Seven lengthy historical novels, products of ten years of research, are set in the later days of the Roman Republic. The First Man in Rome focuses on a feud between Gaius Marius and his brother-in-law Sulla. The Grass Crown traces Sulla’s attempt to control Rome. Fortune’s Favorites continues Sulla’s saga as he ages and dies and a younger generation of would-be rulers arises. Caesar’s Women treats Julius Caesar’s rise to power between 68 and 58 BCE. Caesar: Let the Dice Fly, opens in 54 BCE, with Caesar civilizing and romanizing various tribes in Brittania and Gaul. Other contenders for power are seen as they interact with Caesar. The October Horse begins with Caesar's campaign in Alexandria and continues through his assassination on the Ides of March. The final book, Antony and Cleopatra, spans from the aftermath of the Battle of Philippi in 41 BCE to the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BCE. Critics commended McCullough’s thoroughness and storytelling skills in the series, though sheer size and scope may interfere with character development, according to some critics. Morgan’s Run is also a historical novel, tracing the life of a Bristol tavern keeper, a devoted husband and father who finds himself consigned to transportation to the continent of Australia in an experiment in penology in 1787. The central figure, Richard Morgan, is an unforgettable hero.
Late in her career, McCullough took up detective fiction with the Carmine Delmonico series of five murder mysteries. The first book, On, Off, was published in 2006, and the last, Sins of the Flesh, in 2013. The books were generally well regarded but, due to their genre, were not subject to any in-depth critical or scholarly scrutiny.
In 2006, McCullough was named an officer of the Order of Australia for her contributions to her country. Her last novel published would be Bittersweet, the tale of four women (two sets of twins) forging paths for themselves in Depression-era Australia. Published in 2013, the novel, which she claimed to have written to entertain herself after she could no longer paint or draw due to failing eyesight, was met with mixed critical reviews. After years of failing health, McCullough passed away on Norfolk Island on January 29, 2015, reportedly due to liver failure. She was seventy-seven.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
Tim, 1974
The Thorn Birds, 1977
An Indecent Obsession, 1981
A Creed for the Third Millennium, 1985
The Ladies of Missalonghi, 1987
The First Man in Rome, 1990
The Grass Crown, 1991
Fortune’s Favorites, 1993
Caesar’s Women, 1996
Caesar: Let the Dice Fly, 1998
Morgan’s Run, 2000
The October Horse, 2002
The Touch, 2003
Angel Puss, 2005
On, Off, 2006
Antony and Cleopatra, 2007
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet, 2008
Too Many Murders, 2009
Naked Cruelty, 2010
The Prodigal Son, 2012
Sins of the Flesh, 2013
Bittersweet, 2013
Nonfiction:
An Australian Cookbook, 1982
Roden Cutler, V. C., 1998 (biography)
Life Without the Boring Bits, 2011 (memoir)
Bibliography
Chawkins, Steve. "Colleen McCullough Dies at 77; Author of Thorn Birds, Mysteries." Los Angeles Times. Tribune, 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 23 Dec. 2015. An obituary providing an overview of McCullough's life and works.
“Colleen McCullough.” In The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. Ed.William H. Wilde, Jay Hooten, and Barry Andrews. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1994. Print. Provides biographical data and a summary and brief commentary on each of the novels written to date.
DeMarr, Mary Jean. Colleen McCullough: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood, 1996. Print. The opening chapter discusses McCullough as a woman and a writer; the next discusses the wide variety of her fictional genres. Chapters devoted to each novel follow. Contains bibliography and index.
Fox, Margalit. "Colleen McCullough, Author of The Thorn Birds, Dies at 77." New York Times. New York Times, 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 23 Dec. 2015. An obituary providing an overview of McCullough's life and works.
Powers, Katherine A. “Ancient Evenings.” Rev. of The October Horse, by Colleen McCullough. Washington Post. Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2002. Web. 23 Dec. 2015. Review of McCullough’s novel The October Horse refers to the “exhaustive and exhausting detail.”