When the line between fact and fiction is blurred (or rubbed out entirely...)

It was only during the Oscars that I realized multi-nominated Philomena was based on a book, so I was thrilled when Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son and a 50 year Search by Martin Sixsmith arrived on my desk last week. I saved it for the weekend and read it in one (long) sitting. While the writing and narrative weren't great, I was impressed with the level of research that must have gone into a book of this nature, but was surprised at the lack of footnotes and bibliography. And how the book hardly mentions the eponymous Philomena. Then I read a review on GoodReads by Susan Kavanagh, who was a close friend of Michael, the lost son. You can read what she has to say here, but basically, she was interviewed for two hours, and claims nothing from that interview was used in the book. She says the author fabricated everything. 

I have read further on this, and, as a former journalist, I am horrified.  Sixsmith should have rather written a fictional novel based on this story, or should have written it as it really was. The major issue that it deals with - that of the Catholic Church "selling" off orphans for adoption - loses its impact when you're not sure what's fact and what's fiction.

I was deeply disappointed in many of the reviews I read, ones that were written after the movie was made. They praise Sixsmith, applauding his insight into Michael's thoughts and feelings - and boy, where there many of them. Spoiler alert: Sixsmith never met Michael. So the liberties he took were outrageous. He admitted in interviews when the book was published that he used both fact and fiction to construct the novel - read this interview - but I think this needs to be made clear. The blurb on the back of the books reads "true story". More like "true story, sort of, maybe, well - bits of it anyway".

I'm not so concerned about the movie - we know all about artistic licence in this industry - but I refuse to suspend my disbelief while reading a "true story".