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Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, And A Fifty-Year Search (2009)

by Martin Sixsmith(Favorite Author)

3.6 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0143124722 (ISBN13: 9780143124726)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Penguin Books

review 1: I read this book because I saw a positive review of the movie and I typically like to read books before I see the movie. The book started out strongly and with a very interesting premise, but I would not recommend it. I have since found out it was highly fictionalized (presented as a true story), there is very little in it about Philomena's search (a bit at the end to cover all 50 years), and the dialogue throughout was completely made up. Disappointing. I liked the movie much better, even if one of the main events (Philomena going to America to search for her son) was in and of itself fiction. It was frustrating to read something that was supposed to be an "expose" of the selling of Irish babies and the search of both Mike/Anthony and Philomena to find each other devolve ... moreinto an extremely poor narrative that read like a tabloid paper.
review 2: I saw the excellent movie "Philomena" last year, and so was eager to read the book that inspired the film. In reviews I read prior to pickin it up, some people expressed disappointment that the book devotes 75 percent of its pages to the true story of Michael Hess, Philomena's son who she was forced to give up as a teenager in Ireland in the early 1950s. The film, meanwhile, had focused almost entirely on Philomena, her experience as an unwed mother shunned by society and sent to a Catholic convent, and her desperate search for her son 50 years later. I liked that the book features an in-depth examination of Michael's life after her was adopted by an American family, brought up in the Midwest and later his meteoric rise to prominence as a lawyer for the Republican Party. It was a great way to learn "the rest of the story." All his life, Michael struggled with who he was and where he came from. His adoptive mother was loving toward him and the little girl they also adopted by the Irish "orphanage," but his adoptive father was aloof, stern and demanding. Most difficult of all for Michael was the fact that as a gay man, his lifestyle was frowned upon and disparaged by a large portion of society, especially the Republicans he worked with and for, and thus he always presented himself differently depending on the situation. He especially was angered by the government's lack of response the emerging AIDS crisis in the 1980s. What angered me even more, however, is the fact that despite going back to Ireland several times, he got the runaround by the Catholic nuns and never was given information on how to contact his mother. In fact, he was given the impression that she willingly gave him up at birth, which was completely untrue. Philomena is an extraordinary woman, and her son achieved so much in life -- it's such a shame that they were reunited only when it was too late. less

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Reviews (see all)

maraoraudrey

I read this book because I saw a positive review of the movie and I typically like to read books before I see the movie. The book started out strongly and with a very interesting premise, but I would not recommend it. I have since found out it was highly fictionalized (presented as a true story), there is very little in it about Philomena's search (a bit at the end to cover all 50 years), and the dialogue throughout was completely made up. Disappointing. I liked the movie much better, even if one of the main events (Philomena going to America to search for her son) was in and of itself fiction. It was frustrating to read something that was supposed to be an "expose" of the selling of Irish babies and the search of both Mike/Anthony and Philomena to find each other devolve into an extremely poor narrative that read like a tabloid paper.

Andwe1998

Engaging writing style kept me going. I found the history of the Irish adoption system fascinating, although having read other reviews I wonder how accurate it is.The US politics were not very familiar to me as I am not American, but where they were used to support the story of Michael Hess's struggles they fit in well.Haven't seen the movie.Thoroughly enjoyed it. Glad to have only discovered its gross inaccuracies after having finished the book. However, if it had been advertised as fiction it wold still have been a good read.

MEME

Horrible to think it is true, very interesting and sad.

jake

True story, very well done. An amazing true story.

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