June 1st was the 75th birthday of my favorite author, ...Australian born Colleen McCullough...... [View all]
She is primarily known for "The Thorn Birds"-a multi-generational tragedy of forbidden love made into a wildly popular mini-series in the 1980's. While the book is okay, it was a bit too melodramatic for me and really not one I loved. My admiration stems from her 7 part series "The Masters of Rome" which begins with the grandfather of Julius Caesar and ends with Caesar's successor, Augustus Caesar (roughly 75 years). Written over a 20 year period, she did an incredible amount of research to ensure the books historical accuracy and the extent to which she goes is amazing. I read the books over a period of two years and, when I finished, immediately began again. I'm midway through my second reading of the fifth book and just as entranced as I was the first time. Caesar is about to kick Gallic ass at the siege of Alesia, then cross the Rubicon and, well, as they say, the rest is history....
Cheers to an author who makes a time period come alive, who does the grunt work and gets the details right. I feel like I've taken a masters level course in Roman history and enjoyed every freaking minute of it. And isn't that what its all about if you're a serious writer of historical fiction? She's ailing now, apparently in great pain and not much interested in "fan mail" but if she was, I'd be her biggest fan. Here's to you, Colleen. Thank you for stretching my mind and vastly increasing my knowledge of early western history. Thanks for everything....