Rachel Ward in "Against all odds"

Colleen McCullough hated Meggie Cleary.

The news came as quite a surprise to me, but apparently it’s true. In April 2009, as the best-selling auteur worked on the stage musical version of her literary triumph, the UK Daily Mail quoted her directly:

“Meggie in The Thorn Birds is basically my mother. I detested her. Can u imagine writing a 280,000-word book and hating your heroine? She was everything I despise in a woman. She suffered and, worst of all, she enjoyed suffering.”

I didn’t pick up on the author’s hatred when reading the book – far from it – my interpretation was that...