Tim, the 1974 debut novel of Australian writer Colleen McCullough, lives in a long shadow. Any mentions of it tend to be perfunctory, box-checking the transition from neuroscientist to writer that led to McCullough’s second, bestselling novel The Thorn Birds.
The Thorn Birds was adapted into a Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning miniseries in 1983 – though Tim made it to the big screen first, in 1979 (starring Piper Laurie and Mel Gibson). The Thorn Birds was first to be theatricalised, as a 2009 musical, but now Tim is taking the stage and in a new play adaptation currently touring regional New South Wales. But can the story stand up to scrutiny?
