Surviving Maggie
August 12th 2011 05:32
:
Surviving Maggie
A true story about fathers, families and finding out...
Imagine your childhood and your family life being played out on the big screen by Oscar award winning actors.
Your brother and sister had co-written the book,and your brother went on to write and produce the film. Imagine if Geoffrey Rush was playing your dad... except the dad in the film was not quite how YOU remember your dad...
"Write your own book if you're not happy" challenged Tony Fingleton to his brother John when John voiced his concerns about their father's depiction in the classic Australian film Swimming Upstream. And so John was inspired to uncover the story no one had told, of his father's mysterious early life - and what made his father the extraordinary man he became.
Nothing could have prepared John for what he discovered. Harold spent his early childhood on the streets foraging for food for himself and his sister and being beaten for his trouble by his alcoholic mother. Then, at eleven, Harold was removed to a state orphanage in Brisbane, where the treatment he and others endured haunted him forever.
From abused child to rebellious orphan, Harold Fingleton played many roles in his life - larrikin street fighter, gifted sportsman, prisoner, alcoholic, football coach to a bunch of street kids, even a murder suspect - but, most importantly,a man transformed by the love of a strong woman into a father determined hischildren would have the opportunities he never had.
A true story about fathers, families and finding out...
Imagine your childhood and your family life being played out on the big screen by Oscar award winning actors.
After forty years of bookselling, this book punched holes in me. Like ANGELA'S ASHES, noone who reads this story will ever forget it.
- Phil Ryan (veteranbookseller, formerly of Mary Ryans)
This tale is reminiscent of stories such as I CAN JUMP PUDDLES and ANGELAÂS ASHES; it's shocking yet heart-warming: a real page turner. FOUR STARS.
Australian Bookseller and Publisher Magazine
Australian Bookseller and Publisher Magazine
Your brother and sister had co-written the book,and your brother went on to write and produce the film. Imagine if Geoffrey Rush was playing your dad... except the dad in the film was not quite how YOU remember your dad...
"Write your own book if you're not happy" challenged Tony Fingleton to his brother John when John voiced his concerns about their father's depiction in the classic Australian film Swimming Upstream. And so John was inspired to uncover the story no one had told, of his father's mysterious early life - and what made his father the extraordinary man he became.
Nothing could have prepared John for what he discovered. Harold spent his early childhood on the streets foraging for food for himself and his sister and being beaten for his trouble by his alcoholic mother. Then, at eleven, Harold was removed to a state orphanage in Brisbane, where the treatment he and others endured haunted him forever.
From abused child to rebellious orphan, Harold Fingleton played many roles in his life - larrikin street fighter, gifted sportsman, prisoner, alcoholic, football coach to a bunch of street kids, even a murder suspect - but, most importantly,a man transformed by the love of a strong woman into a father determined hischildren would have the opportunities he never had.
After forty years of bookselling, this book punched holes in me. Like ANGELA'S ASHES, noone who reads this story will ever forget it.
- Phil Ryan (veteranbookseller, formerly of Mary Ryans)
- Phil Ryan (veteranbookseller, formerly of Mary Ryans)
This tale is reminiscent of stories such as I CAN JUMP PUDDLES and ANGELAÂS ASHES; it's shocking yet heart-warming: a real page turner. FOUR STARS.
Australian Bookseller and Publisher Magazine
Australian Bookseller and Publisher Magazine
| 29 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
