Colleen McCullough's long out of print first novel now available for the first time in decades: an uplifting, unconventional love story that was hugely controversial on its release and became a major movie starring Mel Gibson. Forty-three-year-old Mary Horton lives in a quiet middle-class suburb on Sydney's North Shore. A straight-laced, emotionally distant spinster, Mary has worked hard to set herself up. With no partner and no friends, her idea of 'life' does not include personal relationships. Tim Melville is a 25-year-old labourer with the body and face of a Greek god, but the mind of a child. A gentle outcast in a cruel, unbending world, Tim has a loving family, but is often derided and taken advantage of. By chance, one summer morning Tim meets Mary and what begins as a day's labour for the kind-hearted young man becomes a life-changing relationship for both of them. Uplifting, unconventional and hugely controversial on its release, TIM became a major movie starring Mel Gibson.  'Accomplished, sensitive and wise ... a love story with a difference' Publishers Weekly 'A wonderful novel about human nature' Beyond New Words 'An extraordinarily beautiful, convention-defying love story. Unforgettable' Sophie Hannah, international bestselling author 'Years before anyone had heard of THE THORN BIRDS, I was excited to be publishing Colleen McCullough's first novel, TIM. She seemed like a young author who might go far' Richard Walsh, Angus & Robertson publisher