Synopses & Reviews
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Judi Dench: 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, Philomenas 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.
Review
"Russia delivers a thoroughly satisfying history…a lively opinionated narrative." --Publishers Weekly
Review
"Russia, a 1,000 Year Chronicle of the Wild East has all the ingredients to become the leading popular history of Russia. Colloquial, personal and anecdotal in style . . . well researched and factually sound." --The Times Literary Supplement
Review
"Sixsmith immerses readers in the Russian landscape and peoples with descriptions of places he's visited and quotations of poetry . . . Sixsmith effectively updates the continuities of Russian history, motivating readers to check out such scholarly surveys as Russia and the Russians, by Geoffrey Hosking." --Booklist
Review
"Among the many contemporary books about Russia, general readers are likely to choose Sixsmith's 600-page tome for its comprehensiveness and air of authority. As popular history, it is enjoyable and engaging." --Reading Behind the Lines, Russia
Review
"This entertaining, informative book presents a sweeping portrait of the entirety of Russian history from the founding of the first state on Russian soil in the ninth century to the present." --CHOICE
Review
“The extraordinary story of an extraordinary woman . . . Philomenas tale is special. . . . It reveals a remarkable human being with astonishing fortitude and a truly humbling willingness to forgive. . . . I hope Philomenas heroic search and her courage in allowing her story to be told will bring comfort to all who have suffered a similar fate.” —
Judi Dench, from the Foreword
“Heartbreaking . . . a story that needed to be told.” —The Independent
Synopsis
Combining in-depth research with his personal experiences as the BBC Moscow correspondent for almost twenty years, Sixsmith tells Russia's full and fascinating story, from its foundation in the last years of the tenth century to the first years of the twenty-first, skillfully tracing the conundrums of modern Russia to their roots in its troubled past. Covering politics, music, literature and art, he explores the myths Russians have created from their history.
Marking the twentieth anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complex political landscape of Russia and its unique place in the modern world.
Synopsis
Covering politics, music, literature and art, he explores the myths Russians have created from their history. Marking the twentieth anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complex political landscape of Russia and its unique place in the modern world.
Synopsis
Combining in-depth research with his personal experiences as the BBC Moscow correspondent for almost twenty years, Sixsmith tells Russia's full and fascinating story, from its foundation in the last years of the tenth century to the first years of the twenty-first, skillfully tracing the conundrums of modern Russia to their roots in its troubled past.
About the Author
Martin Sixsmith is the author of several fiction and nonfiction books and is a former BBC journalist and director of communications for the British government. He lives in London.
Judi Dench is one of the worlds most celebrated actresses and has received numerous awards for her work, including eleven BAFTA awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony Award, and an Academy Award. Her most recent films are The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Skyfall.