Philomena

A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search

De: Martin Sixsmith

Narrado por: John Curless

Now a major motion picture directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity) and starring Judi Dench (Skyfall, Notes on a Scandal) and Steve Coogan (The Trip, Hamlet 2): the heartbreaking true story of an Irishwoman and the secret she kept for 50 years. When she became pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to a convent to be looked after as a "fallen woman". Then the nuns took her baby from her and sold him, like thousands of others, to America for adoption. Fifty years later, Philomena decided to find him.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Philomena's son was trying to find her. Renamed Michael Hess, he had become a leading lawyer in the first Bush administration, and he struggled to hide secrets that would jeopardize his career in the Republican Party and endanger his quest to find his mother.

A gripping exposé told with novelistic intrigue, Philomena pulls back the curtain on the role of the Catholic Church in forced adoptions and on the love between a mother and son who endured a lifelong separation.

©2009 Martin Sixsmith (P)2013 Recorded Books

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A searingly poignant account of forced adoption and its consequences.” ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

“Heartbreaking . . . a story that needed to be told.” ( The Independent)

“Emotionally compelling.” ( Library Journal)

Title - not description - is misleading

If you could sum up Philomena in three words, what would they be?

Moving, tragic...

Any additional comments?

Many of the previous reviewers have denounced this book due to its description. I didn't find the blurb misleading.. I don't know how much of a book you can make of a woman holding in a secret and hoping to find her son (tragic as it is)... the ramifications to Michael literally shaped the whole identity of his life and made a more compelling book IMHO.

Another reviewer also states that they were "dragged into leather and whip male sex." Dragged? No... it was mentioned, but only insofar as to denote Michael's self-destruction and his sabotage of relationships.

This book and performance are compellingly readable. I don't have to like a character (Michael), but I do need to understand why they do the things they do, which was done with compassion and grace.

I do wish more would have been made of Philomena's search for her son, but perhaps this is why Sixsmith consulted on the movie... which I think I am looking forward to see.

This is not an easy read, but it is important... if unwed mothers were met with more compassion, then maybe a damaged soul like Michael's wouldn't have had to be so damaged.

wow!

I really loved this book. my husband is a dark haired Irishman with green eyes. Irish Eyes!

Very Moving Story

As most of you probably know (due to publicity about the recent film based on Sixsmith's book), this is the true story of a young Irish woman sent a to convent to give birth, and of the son who was taken away from her at the age of three--sold, in effect, to an American couple. Fifty years later, Philomena reveals her secret to her family and launches a search for the long-lost son that she has always felt has been looking for her.

In a New York Times interview about the film, Steve Coogan, who plays Sixsmith, says, "“We didn’t want to become overly involved in the life of Anthony Lee or Michael Hess. What appealed to me was the search for the son and the tragedy of not being able to see him grow up. That’s how Philomena experienced it; it was just out of reach, just beyond her.” This explains the main difference between the movie and the book, which focuses predominantly not on Philomena's search but on the successful but sad life of her son.

Anthony Lee was just three when he was adopted, as an afterthought, by the sister of an American bishop and her husband. The family, who had three boys of their own, had always wanted a daughter, but medical problems prevented them from trying again for one of their own. When she met Mary at Sean Ross Abbey, Marge was struck by the affectionate, dark-haired little boy who hovered over her like a protective brother. And so the two were adopted together. Like all of the young mothers at the abbey, Philomena Lee was forced to sign papers giving up all rights to her son and agreeing never to attempt to find or contact him.

It is the story of Anthony, renamed Michael Anthony Hess, that fills most of Sixsmith's pages: growing up in a strict Catholic family in the Midwest, trying to please an adoptive father who hadn't been too keen on his adoption in the first place and becoming an over-achiever as a result, struggling with his sexual identity, rising to a major post in the Reagan administration, and, always, being haunted by the memories of Ireland and the feeling that the mother he left behind was looking for him. Realizing the effect this loss has had on his life, especially on his ability to feel close to other people, Mike makes several visits to Sean Ross Abbey in hopes of learning more about his origins, but, following investigations into wrongdoing by the Irish government, the books are closed (or lost, transferred, or burned) forever.

The final chapters return to Philomena's encounter with Sixsmith and their efforts to locate Anthony, a journey that comes to a bittersweet end.

I have to agree with a reviewer who questioned the account of Michael Hess's emotions. Although Sixsmith did interview people who had known him well (including his sister Mary, former coworkers and lovers, and several friends), all of these people admit that Mike was a very private man who compartmentalized his life and rarely revealed anything personal to anyone. So while Sixsmith does a fine job of imagining what Mike may have been thinking or feeling, it came as rather a shock in the end to realize that the man himself had not been consulted in the writing of this book. (Yes, I do know why, but I'm trying to leave spoilers out of my review.) It also made me suspect that Sixsmith was promoting an agenda beyond telling Philomena's story and advocating for more open adoption laws.

But all this is in retrospect. Despite these concerns, Philomena is a moving and engaging story. Four stars here. I'm eager to see the movie version; although the emphasis shifts from Mike to his mother, that's to be expected when Judi Dench has been cast in the title role.

Not much about Philomena

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

More about politics and gay lifestyle and rights than about a mother's search for her son. Very little is said about her after the adoption.

Would you ever listen to anything by Martin Sixsmith again?

Maybe, the book title had not much to do with the story but some parts were interesting.

Have you listened to any of John Curless’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I like his voice and narratopn.

Not at all what I was expecting

I knew nothing about the book or the movie, but I was intrigued by the reviews. I am amazed at the depth of this man's life and loved the way his story was told.

Informative but maybe too informative

The book was well written and detailed but I gave it four stars because it seems Michael’s partner, Steve, did not feel the book represented him accurately. It did seem like the book shared many personal details that I have to wonder if Michael would have wanted shared. But it was well written and filled in many blanks left in movie

excellent book

Philomena was a long but enthralling read. My only regret is the ending did not turn out as I hoped.

Should be "Anthony/Michael: His 50 Year Search"

I liked this book, although be forewarned that this is not about Philomena (except for the final 30 minutes) but is about her son and his lifelong search for himself and his mother.

Anthony Lee/Michael is adopted after Philomena is forced to give him up at the age of three. This book is about his heart-wrenching search to find himself and understand why he was given up for adoption. The book graphically recounts life with a brutal, demanding adoptive father and bullying adoptive brothers; as well as his life-long close relationship with a loving adoptive mother and his "sister" who was also from his Irish orphanage.

This is truly a "history" book that charts the painful experiences of gay men in a Republican-dominated society where the conservative right damns homosexuality. The story transpires from the early 1950's to present day. Amazingly, Anthony Lee/Michael, a gay man, became a top executive in the Republican National Party, working to ensure the Republican party's success in garnering a majority in Congress. Like Michael's life, his career success was an irony of the worse kind. Michael's story includes the spectre of AIDS and the discrimination it held in that time.

More importantly, the book depicts in all its horror, the role of the Catholic Church in brutalizing teenage pregnant girls and enslaving them as warrens of the church until their "debt" had been repaid. The story tells the facts about how the church sold thousands of babies for large sums to adoptive US parents, doing so against the wishes of their young mothers who were brow beaten as well as physically abused by the nuns in charge of their "care."

This is a sad story, but one that deserves to be told and read. Eye opening. A bit sad. Terrifyingly real. A page turner.

More About Mike than Mom

What aspect of John Curless’s performance would you have changed?

Many of the characters were American, but reader's accent did not reflect this. He changed accent for the Irish characters only. It seems that it should have been all or nothing.

Any additional comments?

I was interested in the title character's story, but it was presented in a very abbreviated way and was disappointing in its lack of detail.
The story of the fate of these poor Irish mothers and children was heartbreaking, but I felt that there were multiple times in the book that the author painted a negative picture of adoption in a universal sense when he spoke of the experience of "orphans". The author can't speak for the multitudes of adoptees in the world who have had many varied adoption experiences and emotions, which it seemed he tried to do at times.

I have to agree, not as advertised

I got this book because I was anxious to see the movie and am waiting for it to be released on DVD.

I have to agree with the other reviews that express a disappointment with the title and the publisher's summary. Perhaps it would have been better titled "Michael, Fifty Years of Looking for Closure".

Yes, it was a shocking and moving story at points, but I would of liked to hear less about Michael or at least more about what Philomena was experiencing.

I fast forwarded through many chapters about Michael's political career, because I just didn't find his personal life or working career of interest, and I was growing tired of the author injecting his thinly disguised political views.

I so wanted to hear more about Philomena and what was going on in her life, what she was thinking but that was thrown in at the end.

I don't think I will be seeing the movie now.