Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search
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Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search (Movie Tie-in) Paperback – November 6, 2013
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“The extraordinary story of an extraordinary woman . . . Philomena’s tale is special. . . . It reveals a remarkable human being with astonishing fortitude and a truly humbling willingness to forgive. . . . I hope Philomena’s heroic search and her courage in allowing her story to be told will bring comfort to all who have suffered a similar fate.” —Judi Dench, from the Foreword
“A searingly poignant account of forced adoption and its consequences.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Riveting . . . Sixsmith chillingly recounts . . . this mother-and-son saga.” —Publishers Weekly
“Emotionally compelling.” —Library Journal
“A powerful testament to the strength of the bond between mother and child.” —Shelf Awareness
“Heartbreaking . . . a story that needed to be told.” —The Independent
“Delves into a woman’s grief with restraint and sensitivity.” —Independent on Sunday
“The touching story of a mother’s fifty-year search for her son.” —Sunday Times (London)
“A searingly poignant account of forced adoption and its consequences.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Riveting . . . Sixsmith chillingly recounts . . . this mother-and-son saga.” —Publishers Weekly
“Emotionally compelling.” —Library Journal
“A powerful testament to the strength of the bond between mother and child.” —Shelf Awareness
“Heartbreaking . . . a story that needed to be told.” —The Independent
“Delves into a woman’s grief with restraint and sensitivity.” —Independent on Sunday
“The touching story of a mother’s fifty-year search for her son.” —Sunday Times (London)
About the Author
Martin Sixsmith is the author of several fiction and nonfiction books and is a former BBC journalist and director of communications for the British government. He lives in London.
Judi Dench is one of the world’s most celebrated actresses and has received numerous awards for her work, including eleven BAFTA awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony Award, and an Academy Award. Her most recent films are The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Skyfall.
Judi Dench is one of the world’s most celebrated actresses and has received numerous awards for her work, including eleven BAFTA awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony Award, and an Academy Award. Her most recent films are The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Skyfall.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
305 of 320 people found the following review helpful
By
Brennagh
on March 2, 2014
Format: Paperback
39 Comments
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As a person who was interviewed for this book and who appears as a "character" in it, I believe this book should be categorized as fiction. The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, written by Martin Sixsmith, was originally published in 2009. After the success of the movie Philomena, the book was reissued with a new title. By now, everyone knows that the book tells the tragic story of Philomena Lee, who had an illegitimate child in the early 1950s while living at an abbey run by nuns in Ireland. An American couple adopted her son, Anthony Lee, when he was 3 years old and renamed him Michael Hess. Philomena and Michael were stymied in their search to find each other by the nuns' refusal to give them information before Michael's death from AIDS.
About 7 years ago, Michael's partner (called Pete in the book) referred me to a journalist who was trying to pitch a book based on the story of Michael's birth mother's search for her son. Following Pete's lead, I agreed to speak to Martin Sixsmith about my friendship with Michael. He recorded our 2-hour conversation. Pete expected to hear from Sixsmith if the book proposal ever came to fruition.
When the book appeared without prior notice to Pete or me in 2009, I was appalled to find that Sixsmith had written a fictional version of Michael's life in which characters engage in conversations that never happened. Because the book received consistently bad reviews in the British newspapers, I decided not to write a review, hoping that the book would fade from view. That is exactly what happened until Steve Coogan read the 2009 newspaper article by Sixsmith and the rest is history.
I cringed when I read my "character" engaging in fictional dialogue with Michael. Things only went downhill from there.Read more ›
About 7 years ago, Michael's partner (called Pete in the book) referred me to a journalist who was trying to pitch a book based on the story of Michael's birth mother's search for her son. Following Pete's lead, I agreed to speak to Martin Sixsmith about my friendship with Michael. He recorded our 2-hour conversation. Pete expected to hear from Sixsmith if the book proposal ever came to fruition.
When the book appeared without prior notice to Pete or me in 2009, I was appalled to find that Sixsmith had written a fictional version of Michael's life in which characters engage in conversations that never happened. Because the book received consistently bad reviews in the British newspapers, I decided not to write a review, hoping that the book would fade from view. That is exactly what happened until Steve Coogan read the 2009 newspaper article by Sixsmith and the rest is history.
I cringed when I read my "character" engaging in fictional dialogue with Michael. Things only went downhill from there.Read more ›
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94 of 97 people found the following review helpful
By
C. E. Selby
on December 31, 2013
Format: Paperback
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3 Comments
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I really enjoyed the movie version with Judi Dench and Steven Coogan and was a little surprised when a one-star reviewer claimed how inferior the Martin Sixmith (played in the movie by Coogan) book is to the movie. I want to take issue with that assessment. The movie—which is wonderfully done—is only a slice of the whole. The movie is focused upon Philomena Lee with very little about the son she lost to an American family whereas the book is much more about the one, Anthony, who becomes Michael Hess.
The evilness of Archbishop McQuaid in Ireland is not part of the movie. So reading this book has given me a much broader view of what happened, of just how truly horrific this archbishop was and how terrible the Catholic Church was as an institution dealing with unwed mothers and their babies. The Irish government quite literally allowed for the selling of these babies and never allowing the mothers to have their own children. The church treated these young women as though they were Hester Prynne—marked for life as sinners.
The book is primarily about the two children who are adopted by Doc and Marge Hess who have three biological sons. Marge has a brother who becomes a bishop, a very kind man, a real counterbalance to the evil McQuaid. The reader is given a chronological look at the life of Michael within this family, within the American Catholic church, with a lot of dialogue which, of course, has to have been created by Sixsmith. We don’t really know too much about his sources. But I read the book the same way I would read a novel.
In the movie we know little about Michael’s motivation to see his biological mother whereas in the book a lot is made of his efforts.Read more ›
The evilness of Archbishop McQuaid in Ireland is not part of the movie. So reading this book has given me a much broader view of what happened, of just how truly horrific this archbishop was and how terrible the Catholic Church was as an institution dealing with unwed mothers and their babies. The Irish government quite literally allowed for the selling of these babies and never allowing the mothers to have their own children. The church treated these young women as though they were Hester Prynne—marked for life as sinners.
The book is primarily about the two children who are adopted by Doc and Marge Hess who have three biological sons. Marge has a brother who becomes a bishop, a very kind man, a real counterbalance to the evil McQuaid. The reader is given a chronological look at the life of Michael within this family, within the American Catholic church, with a lot of dialogue which, of course, has to have been created by Sixsmith. We don’t really know too much about his sources. But I read the book the same way I would read a novel.
In the movie we know little about Michael’s motivation to see his biological mother whereas in the book a lot is made of his efforts.Read more ›
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109 of 117 people found the following review helpful
By
Ravenous Reader
on December 5, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
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2 Comments
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I saw the film on Thanksgiving evening and was captivated by the story so I rushed home and ordered the book. I've given it three stars only because it was interesting, but the film is better. The film tells the story from Philomena's viewpoint while the book tells the story from Anthony/Michael's side of things. There is very little of Philomena's story in the book and that was disappointing. The factual/historical details of the HIV/AIDS outbreak and the government's lack of timely reaction to such a medical crisis was informative, but I would save my money and just see the film instead for a heartwarming story with exceptional acting by Judy Dench.
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70 of 77 people found the following review helpful
By
Amazon Customer
on December 4, 2013
Format: Paperback
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Don't expect the book to be like the movie. It isn't, not by a long shot, but it is just as terrific on its own merits.
While "Philomena" the movie is a tremendous dramatized and fictionalized account of the tragic story of Philomena Lee, who was coerced by nuns into giving up her toddler for adoption in America, the book focuses mostly on the life of her son, Anthony (renamed Michael by his adoptive parents.)
Sixsmith is a scholar and political journalist, and in his hands, the story of Michael Hess (as he was known most of his life) carries much more substance than might be expected from a human interest story of this kind. The question that hangs over the book is "Why would a gay man spend his life furthering the power of the Republican Party, which was (at the time) deeply homophobic and indifferent to the suffering of AIDS victims?"
Sixsmith shows us how the riddle of Michael Hess's life leads back to the rural convent in Ireland where he was born, and to the evil that frightened people commit. There is nothing like the satisfying showdown we see in the movie, but the book is nonetheless a detailed, sympathetic, and thought-provoking meditation on human failure.
A few reviewers have found the detail tough going, and I think your reaction to it may depend on your expectations going in, and what you normally like to read. For what it's worth, I didn't find it a hard read--Sixsmith writes very well, and is clearly trying to make this story engaging to the broadest possible audience.
While "Philomena" the movie is a tremendous dramatized and fictionalized account of the tragic story of Philomena Lee, who was coerced by nuns into giving up her toddler for adoption in America, the book focuses mostly on the life of her son, Anthony (renamed Michael by his adoptive parents.)
Sixsmith is a scholar and political journalist, and in his hands, the story of Michael Hess (as he was known most of his life) carries much more substance than might be expected from a human interest story of this kind. The question that hangs over the book is "Why would a gay man spend his life furthering the power of the Republican Party, which was (at the time) deeply homophobic and indifferent to the suffering of AIDS victims?"
Sixsmith shows us how the riddle of Michael Hess's life leads back to the rural convent in Ireland where he was born, and to the evil that frightened people commit. There is nothing like the satisfying showdown we see in the movie, but the book is nonetheless a detailed, sympathetic, and thought-provoking meditation on human failure.
A few reviewers have found the detail tough going, and I think your reaction to it may depend on your expectations going in, and what you normally like to read. For what it's worth, I didn't find it a hard read--Sixsmith writes very well, and is clearly trying to make this story engaging to the broadest possible audience.
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