Today’s book is special to me. I’ve always been quite mature for my age, so I’ve read pretty advanced books before most people are required to read them. I read Of Mice and Men in elementary school. If you’ve read it, you know how mature it is. I read today’s review book for the first time in 6th grade. If a 6th grader told their teacher nowadays that they read this book, they’d probably get suspended from school and CPS would be called on their parents. But it was the 90s and people weren’t so sensitive back then.

This is a picture of my copy of The Thorn Birds. It has been gently loved and reread numerous times over the years. This particular copy was printed in 1977 and it’s probably one of my most prized possessions.

This book is more than a smutty romance novel. This is a saga of a family in New Zealand and takes place starting in 1915. The story spans over generations and shows the will of a family to be strong through heartbreak after heartbreak. It’s a love story, tortured and forbidden; validating the fact that in the very simplest of terms: The heart wants what the heart wants.

Making a book into a movie is hit or miss. With an amazing cast, the movie adaptation of this book is astounding. With classic actors like Richard Chamberlain (Dr. Kildare, more recently I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry) and Bryan Brown (Cocktail, Australia, Along Came Polly), it’s a beautiful interpretation of a story that I love.

Due to the intense emotional and psychological storyline and some graphic sex and violence, I don’t recommend it for the average young girl. Probably 16 or even older.

Whether by DVD or book, I hope you enjoy this incredible love story!

 

Warmest Regards,

The Editor