Philomena : a mother, her son, and a fifty-year search / Martin Sixsmith.
Material type:
TextPublication details: London : Pan Books, 2013.Description: 452 pages ; 20 cmISBN: - 9781447245223 (pbk.)
- 1447245229 (pbk.)
- Lost child of Philomena
- 306.874 SIX
| Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Loan | Moylish Library Main Collection | 306.874 SIX (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 39002100657064 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Philomena is now a major film starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, directed by Stephen FrearsWhen she fell pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to the convent at Roscrea in Co. Tipperary to be looked after as a fallen woman. She cared for her baby for three years until the Church took him from her and sold him, like countless others, to America for adoption. Coerced into signing a document promising never to attempt to see her child again, she nonetheless spent the next fifty years secretly searching for him, unaware that he was searching for her from across the Atlantic. Philomena's son, renamed Michael Hess, grew up to be a top Washington lawyer and a leading Republican official in the Reagan and Bush administrations. But he was a gay man in a homophobic party where he had to conceal not only his sexuality but, eventually, the fact that he had AIDs. With little time left, he returned to Ireland and the convent where he was born: his desperate quest to find his mother before he died left a legacy that was to unfold with unexpected consequences for all involved. Philomena is the tale of a mother and a son whose lives were scarred by the forces of hypocrisy on both sides of the Atlantic and of the secrets they were forced to keep. With a foreword by Judi Dench, Martin Sixsmith's book is a compelling and deeply moving narrative of human love and loss, both heartbreaking yet ultimately redemptive.
Film tie-in.
Originally published: as The lost child of Philomena Lee. London: Macmillan, 2009.
Machine generated contents note: Part One -- Part Two -- Part Three -- Part Four.
When she fell pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to the convent at Roscrea in Co. Tipperary to be looked after as a fallen woman. She cared for her baby for three years until the Church took him from her and sold him, like countless others, to America for adoption. Coerced into signing a document promising never to attempt to see her child again, she nonetheless spent the next fifty years secretly searching for him, unaware that he was searching for her from across the Atlantic. Philomena\'s son, renamed Michael Hess, grew up to be a top Washington lawyer and a leading Republican official in the Reagan and Bush administrations. But he was a gay man in a homophobic party where he had to conceal not only his sexuality but, eventually, the fact that he had AIDs. With little time left, he returned to Ireland and the convent where he was born: his desperate quest to find his mother before he died left a legacy that was to unfold with unexpected consequences for all involved. Philomena is the tale of a mother and a son whose lives were scarred by the forces of hypocrisy on both sides of the Atlantic and of the secrets they were forced to keep. With a foreword by Judi Dench, Martin Sixsmith\'s book is a compelling and deeply moving narrative of human love and loss, both heartbreaking yet ultimately redemptive.
Author notes provided by Syndetics
Martin Sixsmith was educated at Oxford, Harvard and the Sorbonne. From 1980 to 1997, he was the BBC correspondent in Moscow, Washington, Brussels and Warsaw. From 1997 to 2002, he worked as the director of communications and press secretary for Harriet Harman, Alistair Darling, and Stephen Byers. He is the author of two novels, Spin and I Heard Lenin Laugh. His non-fiction work, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, is the basis for the film Philomena starring Steve Coogan and Judi Dench.(Bowker Author Biography)