Our Father, Frank: A priest, the woman he loved and the sons they left behind

by Joseph Chamberlin

Friday, June 29, 1979 I entered Catholic Charities in Pittsburgh. There waiting for me was the woman who had given birth to me 33 years ago. This was our first meeting since she had put my brother and me up for adoption in 1948. I listened as she answered a question about my birth father. "He was a priest." As I drove back to Baltimore the following Sunday a heavy and dark pall came over me. I had to remove it. The pall was the secret of three decades, the story. I had to tell it. So I foraged through the pieces she and her daughter had given me to fashion it. It is the story of the relationship between my birth mother and the man she loved--the priest she loved so much she could not take him from his first love, the priesthood.

124 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2010

Reviews

[Nancy]

Having recently heard the author speak, I felt that I knew much of the story - a somewhat fictionalized account of the love affair between the author's birth mother and father. As with Chamberlin's short stories, I came away wanting to know more of the story. Since the author is currently working on a memoir, perhaps one day I will. I was also surprised at my strong reaction. I did not like Eileen, though I felt sorry for her, and I really did not like Frank.

What Joseph Chamberlin wrote in my book:

"Two things about stories...all are real some are true"