From amazon.com:
When she fell pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to the convent at Roscrea in Co. Tipperary to be looked after as a fallen woman. She cared for her baby for three years until the Church took him from her and sold him, like countless others, to America for adoption. Coerced into signing a document promising never to attempt to see her child again, she nonetheless spent the next fifty years secretly searching for him, unaware that he was searching for her from across the Atlantic.

Oh my. My heart is breaking.

I enjoyed this very much although, at it's heart, it is such a sad and maddening story of overreach by the Catholic church and the meddling and bad things done in the name of God and religion.

It's also a hopeful story of the bond between mother and child.

There are some lovely photos of Michael and Mary as children in the middle of the book, and one of them ruins the ending so by the time I got to the last two chapters, I already knew the outcome - which did not lessen its impact.

I did not know about the American adoptions of Irish children at all.

I learned far more about gerrymandering than I would ever want or need to know.
(an update on March 15, 2023- I was able to answer a Jeopardy question about American politics and gerrymandering because I had read this recently - so I take that back - the gerrymandering was useful after all!)

Well worth the read but have a tissue handy.

This wasn't on your wishlist, but I had some room in the box, and it sort of fits with The Pull of The Stars!
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A most excellent surprise! EIGHT books arrived today. Thank you!