This famed Australian author has died. I well remember the huge
acclaim for the Thornbirds.A sad loss.

I re-read the Thornbirds only last year. Was one of the first major blockbuster-type books that I read, when the TV mini series was running. I wasn't allowed watch the TV version, but nobody objected to me reading (the even more explicit) book!

Also loved her book "Tim", which I found very moving and quite sweet.

RIP.

I loved The Thorn Birds and many of her other books.

UPTV is showing reruns of Judging Amy. In one of the episodes which aired today, a character mentions that he is reading The Thorn Birds to his wife.

A great loss.

I loved Tim too, Santana! Been so long since I have read it that I might have to track it down again.

I must be the only Aussie that has never read any of her books, but she was a very proud Australian.

My husband introduced me to her series of books about Rome. They are meaty well researched books about the development of Rome from the time of Marius to the time of Marc Antony. I found them both engrossing and astonishing. I'd no idea she was such a heavyweight writer capable of such well-researched and knowlegable work. I enjoyed most the books about the periods I knew least about. They were so interesting. They are not dry historical books but tell the story of Rome through the lives of its major players. I was undergoing treatment for breast cancer at the time which lasted 10 months and I took them with me when waiting in hospital clinics or travelling to appointment. It was also something I could do when chemotherapy took my energy away. For radiotherapy I had to attend hospital every day for 6 weeks and they really took me out of myself. It was a comfort to know I had enough written material to keep me going through it all. They are big books in every sense of the word.