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Philomena

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Philomena

By: Martin Sixsmith
Narrated by: John Curless
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About this listen

Falling pregnant as a teenager in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to the convent in Co. Tipperary to be looked after as a fallen woman. She cared for her baby for three years until the Church took him and sold him, like countless others, to America for adoption. She spent the next 50 years secretly searching for him, unaware that he was searching for her from across the Atlantic.

©2009 Martin Sixsmith, foreword: 2013 Judi Dench (P)2013 Recorded Books LLC Parenting & Families Relationships Women Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing Emotionally Gripping Inspiring Thought-Provoking Heartfelt

Critic reviews

Now a major film starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan
All stars
Most relevant
This is a sad but gripping true story of love, loss,betrayal and healing.Very well narrated.
But if you've seen the film you may think this is Philomena's story (as the film is, mostly),
It isn't: it concentrates much more on the life of her son and to some extent, his adoptive sister. This actually made it more interesting to me, as the film largely skimmed over Anthony's life,But the title is misleading.

Good Book,Wrong Title

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very well narrated, but having loved the film I expected this to be the story of Philomenas search. Instead, the main focus was on Anthony's life and his search with the story of the film coming, in the main, in the last 30mins. To be honest I enjoyed the film more.

not what I expected

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This book surprised me in that it deals almost exclusively with Michael and only touches on Philomena.
It details the intense, driving savagery and greed of a Catholic Church carried away on a flight of its own self importance.
It details Michael s life but I felt it dealt far too much with his sexuality. He was gay and that's the man he was. I'm just not sure we needed to hear about the fluorescent jock straps at the gay clubs etc etc etc.
Well read but a few mispronounced names and places took from its certainty a little.

Surprised

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I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it. It has been very well narrated.

Very moving story

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Would you consider the audio edition of Philomena to be better than the print version?

haven't read the print version so can't conclude

Who was your favorite character and why?

didn't have a favourite

Which scene did you most enjoy?

the latter scenes of the convent in ireland

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

both

emotional roller coaster

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