Colleen McCullough

Colleen McCullough was born in New South Wales in 1937. A neuroscientist by training, she worked in hospitals in Sydney, London and Yale. By night, she wrote -- and her second novel, "The Thorn Birds" (1977) became a global bestseller. She publishd 25 novels, ranging from love stories to crime fiction, including the monumental, seven-volume "Masters of Rome" historical fiction series.