Philomena

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

By: Martin Sixsmith

Narrated by: John Curless

Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Critic reviews

“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)

Disappointed

What did you like best about Philomena? What did you like least?

Although this book was entitled "Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search" this book only contained 1/4 (at best) the work from Philomena's perspective. The bulk of this literary work is about Michael A. Hess (Anthony Lee) and his plight throughout his life as an adoptee and not knowing his mother.
I cannot imagine that a large part of this book, the part that depicted his personal life, was supposition of what his personal life might have been. This supposition is based upon interviews and data gathered by Sixsmith. I am extremely disappointed that so much of this work was based on Hess' journey and really Philomena Lee's perspective seemed to be thrown as an after thought. I do hope the movie delves more into Mrs. Lee's perspective and her experiences.

Not much about Philomena..

What did you like best about Philomena? What did you like least?

It was interesting to learn about Anthony/Michael, but I really wanted the full story of Philomena.

What was most disappointing about Martin Sixsmith’s story?

Some of the conversations recounted could only have come from one of the people in the conversation and in a couple of conversations, both were deceased. Literary license?

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The British accent when the conversations quoted were among American people was a bit off-putting.

Do you think Philomena needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It would be nice to see a book actually about Philomena.

Misleading Description

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. I didn't come away with much to offer other than history.
The title implies that it is Philomena's story but it seems more her sons story throughout. I was disappointed at how immersed the story became in the sordid details of Michael Anthony's homosexual lifestyle rather than the search for his birth mother. Understood, his decisions were perhaps driven by the longing to know his roots but there was no glory in the details. The historical information was interesting throughout as it included the political details of the Catholic Church of Ireland, the American government and the discovery and treatment of AIDS throughout which did made the story more personable.

What was most disappointing about Martin Sixsmith’s story?

The details of his homosexual encounters. I also anticipated much more about Philomena, especially after a post on the ANA website mentioning her as a nurse. She seemed lost to me for most of the book.

What does John Curless bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He makes the story seem real with insights shared and goes on to wrap up the journey at the end.

Was Philomena worth the listening time?

No. It was a negatively moving story. While non-fiction, it seemed unnecessarily rude.

Wasn't really what I was expecting

This was an interesting story, but not really what I was expecting. I expected it to be the story of Philomena and her search for her son. I mean the book is called “Philomena…and her search.” Instead, it was pretty much a biography of her son. Since Michael Hess was homosexual and contracted AIDS in the early 1990s, I expected an amount of discussion about his homosexuality. And since Hess became a high level figure in the Republican Party and there is (and has been) a very conservative contingent of the Republican Party, I expected an amount of discussion involving politics. However, there was an inordinate amount of discussion about his sexuality and the Republican Party’s failings, mostly about his sexuality. I was just a kid in the 1980s so I don’t really remember the political and social climate of the 1970s and 1980s, but it felt like the author had a bit of a political agenda to me. Any right wing conservatives were basically categorized as “moral morons” (religious right) or hillbillies. However, overall I thought it was an interesting book and a worthwhile (although at times heartbreaking) listen. The beginning and end were captivating, but the middle of the book was slow.

A few observations…
~The story starts with Philomena’s circumstances behind her time at Roscrea and Anthony’s first few years until he was adopted at the age of three. That was the last of Philomena, except for Michael’s wondering what she was like over the years, until the final hour of the book. They crammed Philomena’s life post adoption into about ten minutes, and the investigative reporter’s search into less than 40 minutes. I have an interest in genealogy, so that was disappointing to me.
~Part one of the book was very moving and very aggravating to me that there could be that kind of corruption within the Catholic Church in “modern times.”
~I didn’t realize gerrymandering challenges were so important in bringing Republicans to office in the 1990s so I thought that was an interesting thread.
~The book is categorized as a memoir, but it is written by a retired investigative reporter who never met him and gathered information ten years after his death. I am a big fan of memoirs, but I do feel like a lot of the conversations were manufactured for dramatic effect since obviously the reporter wasn’t there.
~I am split on the whole concept of outing that was broached in the book. On one hand, I feel like it is bullying and therefore wrong and on the other, I feel like hypocrisy among our nation’s leaders should be exposed when it involves legislation they have tried to enact or prevent. Sixsmith wasn’t clear where Hess fell on that.

I had lingering questions at the end of the book. For example, Michael Hess knew Philomena’s name. Surely he had a fair amount of money from his position within the Republican party perhaps he could have hired a private investigator of some sort to try to track her down..? I was also curious about Mary (Michael’s adopted sister) and whether she was ever reunited with her birth mother. I have read that Michael’s last partner, Pete, felt that the book was misleading and that Michael wasn’t as “dark” as portrayed in the book. I didn’t think he was particularly dark, but rather lost and insecure. I am curious, therefore, what Pete felt was lacking in the telling. While Michael was dealing with AIDS, he received a note threatening to out him because of his work with the Republicans and I was curious if anything became of that or if his becoming ill headed it off. Was his being gay and did his having AIDS come out in the political arena or was it swept under the rug? When Pete & Mary discussed burial in Ireland, Pete mentioned restrictions on bodies of people who died from infectious diseases, but the book never discussed whether that became an issue. Sixsmith alluded to this being another story, but I am curious if Sixsmith has since found Michael’s father and if he ever knew he fathered a son.

Disappointing

According to the book description this is about a mothers search for her child that she was forced to five up for adoption in the 50s, but that is not what the book is about. It is about the life of the son she gave up for adoption. The mothers search is briefly mentioned in the prologue. The story is about a young man coming to terms with his own sexuality, his feelings of abandonment and his efforts to try to find his mother. If this sounds interesting to you, than you will enjoy this book. The book is not bad, but it is not as described and had I known I probably would not have purchased.

Lacking in some respects, overdone in others...

I did NOT see the movie, so going into this reading, here's what I expected: a mother and son are separated at birth and we follow their parallel lives, understanding how their separation shaped them, and eventually revel in their reunion.

Here's what I got: a very, very, VERY detailed account of an Irish orphan's life in the US.

I titled this review "lacking in some respects" because I was dying to know what happened to Philomena, only to be rewarded with the briefest of synopses in the epilogue.

I titled this review "overdone in others" because I know EVERYTHING about her son's life, after waiting patiently through 16 hours documenting each year of his life. I know which gay bars he attended, I know what his college dorm was named, I know the names of all of his colleagues' wives. Seriously, at one point the author spends a few minutes describing what he ate on an uneventful Christmas Eve in 1981.

I understand why this was done. This book was not written for me. It was written for Philomena. And it's a lovely gift to her. I just wish the package had been more clearly labeled, as my expectations were unmet.

Mr. Curless's voice is heaven, though.

An interesting and entertaining listen

The story far exceeded my expectations . The story was thought provoking and entertaining. Now I want to see the movie.

Tremendous story - but it's HIS, not Philomena's

Where does Philomena rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very high in the non-fiction books. Fascinating behind the scenes of a time and place I've never been (being a life long Democrat, learning about the machinations of the Republican Party in the 80s was fascinating).

Who was your favorite character and why?

Pete, the second long-term boyfriend. I really understood him, and felt like he and I have a lot in common. Mike/Antony was interesting - but Pete, I wanted to sit down and have coffee with.

What does John Curless bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice, and characterizations, were spot on. I felt like there was more than one voice talking at times, and it felt very natural. Not every narrator can pull this off.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I've recently been told I can't adopt and can't have kids biologically (different reasons, but both out of my control). I actually had to stop listening about a third of the way through for a few weeks, to get myself back in control. Surprisingly, when I came back, it was to a book that had morphed from one about a mother's loss to one that was about the son's search. I was perplexed at first, but then Michael's story grabbed me and I was thrilled to hear it.

Any additional comments?

If you aren't comfortable with gay folks, or hearing about the beginnings of the AIDS crisis, or want a book that focuses on the mother, this isn't a good choice for you. Try the movie, which I'm told is all about the mother. Also, if you ARE a fan of gay folks and want to learn about a real person that lived and died in the great gay holocaust of the last part of the last century, this is a surprising but excellent choice for you. I would have recommended the book's first part and last part to different groups, but together it makes a really stunning, emotionally charged and overall excellent work.

Great story, blandly told

What did you love best about Philomena?

It was wrenching. Such a beautiful, tragic story of how repression and restriction can destroy lives. Well written and thought provoking.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Michael Hess. Though he was exasperating at times, it was always possible to empathize with him.

Would you be willing to try another one of John Curless’s performances?

Probably not. His delivery was the low point of this book. His reading was stiff and stilted, and detracted at many times from the story.

What is in a title?

Any additional comments?

I agree with some other reviewers who question the title of this book. The story is entirely about Philomena's son, the life he builds for himself and his quest to find her.
I thought the story was interesting. An Irish born boy given away as a toddler who grows up in the US and climbs to a high ranking position within the Republican National Committee.

I would like more of Philomena's story but I found this to be a good read.