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Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search (Movie Tie-in) Paperback – November 6, 2013

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Martin Sixsmith (Author)
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Martin Sixsmith (Author), Dame Judi Dench (Foreword)
4 out of 5 stars 1,415 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (November 6, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0143124722
  • ISBN-13: 978-0143124726
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,415 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 starsThis book is fiction
By Brennagh on March 2, 2014
Format: Paperback
As a person who was interviewed for this book and who appears as a "character" in it, I believe this book should be categorized as fiction. The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, written by Martin Sixsmith, was originally published in 2009. After the success of the movie Philomena, the book was reissued with a new title. By now, everyone knows that the book tells the tragic story of Philomena Lee, who had an illegitimate child in the early 1950s while living at an abbey run by nuns in Ireland. An American couple adopted her son, Anthony Lee, when he was 3 years old and renamed him Michael Hess. Philomena and Michael were stymied in their search to find each other by the nuns' refusal to give them information before Michael's death from AIDS.

About 7 years ago, Michael's partner (called Pete in the book) referred me to a journalist who was trying to pitch a book based on the story of Michael's birth mother's search for her son. Following Pete's lead, I agreed to speak to Martin Sixsmith about my friendship with Michael. He recorded our 2-hour conversation. Pete expected to hear from Sixsmith if the book proposal ever came to fruition.

When the book appeared without prior notice to Pete or me in 2009, I was appalled to find that Sixsmith had written a fictional version of Michael's life in which characters engage in conversations that never happened. Because the book received consistently bad reviews in the British newspapers, I decided not to write a review, hoping that the book would fade from view. That is exactly what happened until Steve Coogan read the 2009 newspaper article by Sixsmith and the rest is history.

I cringed when I read my "character" engaging in fictional dialogue with Michael. Things only went downhill from there.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsThe Movie Is Only a Slice of the Whole Pie
By Eric Selby on December 31, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed the movie version with Judi Dench and Steven Coogan and was a little surprised when a one-star reviewer claimed how inferior the Martin Sixmith (played in the movie by Coogan) book is to the movie. I want to take issue with that assessment. The movie—which is wonderfully done—is only a slice of the whole. The movie is focused upon Philomena Lee with very little about the son she lost to an American family whereas the book is much more about the one, Anthony, who becomes Michael Hess.

The evilness of Archbishop McQuaid in Ireland is not part of the movie. So reading this book has given me a much broader view of what happened, of just how truly horrific this archbishop was and how terrible the Catholic Church was as an institution dealing with unwed mothers and their babies. The Irish government quite literally allowed for the selling of these babies and never allowing the mothers to have their own children. The church treated these young women as though they were Hester Prynne—marked for life as sinners.

The book is primarily about the two children who are adopted by Doc and Marge Hess who have three biological sons. Marge has a brother who becomes a bishop, a very kind man, a real counterbalance to the evil McQuaid. The reader is given a chronological look at the life of Michael within this family, within the American Catholic church, with a lot of dialogue which, of course, has to have been created by Sixsmith. We don’t really know too much about his sources. But I read the book the same way I would read a novel.

In the movie we know little about Michael’s motivation to see his biological mother whereas in the book a lot is made of his efforts.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsPlodding...the film was better
By Ravenous Reader on December 5, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I saw the film on Thanksgiving evening and was captivated by the story so I rushed home and ordered the book. I've given it three stars only because it was interesting, but the film is better. The film tells the story from Philomena's viewpoint while the book tells the story from Anthony/Michael's side of things. There is very little of Philomena's story in the book and that was disappointing. The factual/historical details of the HIV/AIDS outbreak and the government's lack of timely reaction to such a medical crisis was informative, but I would save my money and just see the film instead for a heartwarming story with exceptional acting by Judy Dench.
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5.0 out of 5 starsNot Like The Movie--Read it anyway.
By Annette Laing on December 4, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Don't expect the book to be like the movie. It isn't, not by a long shot, but it is just as terrific on its own merits.

While "Philomena" the movie is a tremendous dramatized and fictionalized account of the tragic story of Philomena Lee, who was coerced by nuns into giving up her toddler for adoption in America, the book focuses mostly on the life of her son, Anthony (renamed Michael by his adoptive parents.)

Sixsmith is a scholar and political journalist, and in his hands, the story of Michael Hess (as he was known most of his life) carries much more substance than might be expected from a human interest story of this kind. The question that hangs over the book is "Why would a gay man spend his life furthering the power of the Republican Party, which was (at the time) deeply homophobic and indifferent to the suffering of AIDS victims?"

Sixsmith shows us how the riddle of Michael Hess's life leads back to the rural convent in Ireland where he was born, and to the evil that frightened people commit. There is nothing like the satisfying showdown we see in the movie, but the book is nonetheless a detailed, sympathetic, and thought-provoking meditation on human failure.

A few reviewers have found the detail tough going, and I think your reaction to it may depend on your expectations going in, and what you normally like to read. For what it's worth, I didn't find it a hard read--Sixsmith writes very well, and is clearly trying to make this story engaging to the broadest possible audience.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA compelling read.

A very enjoyable read. Actually picked up some snippets that I missed in the film.

Published 6 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsInteresting book

Philodendron is a sad story of a young woman forced to have her baby in a convent. The nuns are unsympathetic and unfeeling. Read more

Published 6 days ago by Texas Lady
4.0 out of 5 starsInteresting!

The story was engaging and we'll written. I liked how it was really a documentary but written like fiction. Read more

Published 11 days ago by DCA
5.0 out of 5 starsI would recommend this book

I have seen the movie which was Philomena's story more than her son. The book is more her son's story as well as her story. Read more

Published 17 days ago by Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Very little about the mother, mostly about the son's abandonment issues.

Published 19 days ago by traveler625
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Frustrating but a good book.

Published 19 days ago by Dotsy
2.0 out of 5 starsTwo Stars

Not what I expected.

Published 21 days ago by P. A. Mag
5.0 out of 5 starsAfter not reading for awhile due to lack of concentration, I started

......this book, which I couldn't put down. Hence, the five star review. Now I want to read more about this subject, especially wanting to know if the Church in Ireland has ever... Read more

Published 21 days ago by ELLIE
5.0 out of 5 starsAn excellent book.

Moving, thought provoking and tear jerking! An excellent book.

Published 25 days ago by Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 starsThe Cover Blurbs Aren't Very Accurate (Spoiler Alert)

I was expecting a heartwarming story of the reunion of a mother and son. Instead, what I got was basically a biography of a closet homosexual Republican hypocrite with a nasty,... Read more

Published 26 days ago by SSSD

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