Back in 2003, Ashton and I went to see "The Magdalene Sisters." It was a horrific tail of the abuse of a "wayward" girl in the Irish Magdalene laundries. A well done movie, I thought, but depressing - if true.
It seems that the story may be just that - a story, rather than the real life depiction of misery. It seems that a new book is coming out that shows that the author of the Madgalene laundry tail was a bit off in her depiction of her life. The "Misery Literature" industry keeps pumping out these supposedly real-life tails, but are they true? It reminds me of the book published here in the U.S. a couple years ago, James Frey's "A Thousand Little Pieces," which I read before it became a rage due to Oprah's endorsement. Boy do I feel used.
Read this article from the Telegraph. What can we believe?
I like this last paragraph of the article:
"O'Beirne's [the author of the book of her "experiences" with the laundry] own feelings about Kelly's [the author of the new book debunking O'Beirne's claims] investigation became clear on Irish TV last November, when he pulled out her birth certificate and school records, showing she had lied about her age, education and alleged adoption. O'Beirne, furious, hit him. As he commented at the time: 'She can beat my back, but she can't beat my book.'"
