The Thorn Birds, Tập 1

In the early part of the 20th century Paddy Cleary moves his wife, Fiona, and their seven children to Drogheda, the vast Australian sheep station owned by his autocratic and childless older sister. Meggie is the only Cleary daughter-- and the one man she truly loves is the priest, Ralph de Bricassart. Ralph's course moves him from the remote Outback parish to the halls of the Vatican; Meggie endures a brief and miserable marriage, but most of her life is fixed to Drogheda. Distance does not dim their feelings, though it shapes their lives. -- adapted from Goodreads info