Villain or hero? Debated for centuries, the volcanic soul of Julius Caesar comes dramatically to life in the new masterpiece of historical fiction from the #1 bestselling author of The Thorn Birds.
In this sweeping saga, McCullough traces Caesar's rise to prominence in his world, beginning with his triumphant entry into a new battlefield -- the Roman Forum, where wars are waged with words and schemes, and where today's ally may be tomorrow's foe. Caesar's victories are not limited to the political arena, however; he also conquers Rome's noblewomen, including the powerful and vindictive Servilia, mother of a youth called Brutus. Yet the one thing he never gives to any of the women who love him or want him is himself -- to Caesar, love is just another weapon in his political arsenal.
Epic in scope, razor-sharp in detail, Caesar's Women paints an indelible portrait of a man willing to seize any means of moving toward his ultimate goal -- to be the greatest of all Rome's First Men, the leader of a world that echoes our own too closely for comfort.
Colleen Margaretta McCullough was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and Tim.
Raised by her mother in Wellington and then Sydney, McCullough began writing stories at age 5. She flourished at Catholic schools and earned a physiology degree from the University of New South Wales in 1963. Planning become a doctor, she found that she had a violent allergy to hospital soap and turned instead to neurophysiology – the study of the nervous system's functions. She found jobs first in London and then at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
After her beloved younger brother Carl died in 1965 at age 25 while rescuing two drowning women in the waters off Crete, a shattered McCullough quit writing. She finally returned to her craft in 1974 with Tim, a critically acclaimed novel about the romance between a female executive and a younger, mentally disabled gardener. As always, the author proved her toughest critic: "Actually," she said, "it was an icky book, saccharine sweet."
A year later, while on a paltry $10,000 annual salary as a Yale researcher, McCullough – just "Col" to her friends – began work on the sprawling The Thorn Birds, about the lives and loves of three generations of an Australian family. Many of its details were drawn from her mother's family's experience as migrant workers, and one character, Dane, was based on brother Carl.
Though some reviews were scathing, millions of readers worldwide got caught up in her tales of doomed love and other natural calamities. The paperback rights sold for an astonishing $1.9 million.