The Thorn Birds was first published in Australia in 1977 and quickly became a bestseller.
Mum’s penfriend Kay read it and then sent her a copy.
That parcel arrived at our house the same day as the book was published in the UK.
The gift tag is still inside the front cover.
Scottie dogs were Kay’s favourite.
Scottie dogs were Kay’s favourite.
When I was packing up Mum’s clothes, I found the book tucked up with Kay’s letters
in the bottom of a wardrobe. Even though I have long had my own copy of The Thorn Birds,
I decided to re-read the Australian one.
I found the paragraph about unconscious healing on page 105.
And then disaster struck.
Because of the book’s age, the glue in the binding has dried out
and the book is now slowly but surely falling apart.
So I switched to my own copy and finished the story.
The Australian one?
It’s now on the bookshelf
and purely for decorative purposes only.
The Australian one?
It’s now on the bookshelf
and purely for decorative purposes only.
This West London Life 
We used to repair books that this happened to in the library I used to work in – I think it was copydex glue – they would look as good as new again!
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What a lovely find, and I can understand your desire to keep it safe. A bookbinder could fix that for you, I would think, if you wanted? I remember the Thronbirds from the small screen with Richard Chamberlin – do you? Ahh!
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So that is where that fabulous quote came from.
I like the other lady commenters, making the suggestion to take the Australian version to a book binder for repair. Such a treasure.
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Strangely enough it's a book I've never read! Glad the original is safe once again. xxx
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I've never read it either but downloaded it to my Kindle about 2 weeks ago as it was on offer. Will read it when my eyes are better! i can understand how pleased you must be to have this copy.
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What a special find indeed.
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