New York Times BestsellerThe heartbreaking true story of an Irishwoman and the secret she kept for 50 yearsWhen 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.… 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.
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This book was a bit of a disappointment to me. I had hoped for more information on the unwed mother situation in Ireland. And, although the book is named Philomena, there is very little about her life after she is forced by the nuns to give up her son for adoption.
The book begin to drag as it detailed Michael Hess’s life, and I found myself skipping pages. The first section of the book was by far the most interesting, as it told the story of the plight of unwed pregnant girls in Ireland who were at at the will of nuns who showed no mercy or love of Christ, while the government and families did little to change the situation.
What a sad story about a life lived recklessly in part because he thought his mother gave him away. What a difference it might have been if he had known the truth. I found this story very disturbing.
It was such a sad story. I felt kind of empty after reading it….
I loved this book. I had seen the movie which was
Great but the book is so much better. It gives more
Details of Anthony’s (Michael) life after his adoption
And life in the US. He excelled in school and went on
To law school. His career in government was very
Successful. It is sad that he never got to meet his
Mother and shame on the Nuns who kept information from them both.
Disappointed. I wanted more about Philomena’s life after her son was taken away. Of course it was important to know about her son, but the book was mistitled, and I would have skipped it if I had known it wasn’t mainly about Philomena.
I felt very sorry for the way the Catholic Nuns used and abused the young unwed mothers and forcing them to sign to give up their children by threatening to put them in an asylum to never get out. What a nasty threat. Hope there is punishment somewhere for this terrible behavior.
Lots of time and research by the author to expose the abuse of power by the RC church and the ill treatment of unmarried pregnant women.
Not what I expected but actually very interesting because it told the story about the child.
About 40% of the story is about Philomena, and the rest of the story is about her son, Anthony/Michael, and the challenges he faced because of his sexual orientation. I was disappointed that Philomena disappeared once Anthony/Michael was sent to America at the age of three, and barely returned to the story in the last few pages.
The story is quite fragmented and I was disappointed.