A grandmother who was once ashamed to speak about her upbringing, has now added the final missing piece of her lifelong secret in her third published memoir.
Anne Fothergill grew up as a child in Nazareth House, in Middlesbrough, after her mother walked out on the family when she was just two.
Anne began revealing her story in 2013, with her first book, Memoirs of a Nazareth House Girl, which follows her childhood being brought up in a Catholic orphanage by nuns.
Her second book, Don’t Let the Riff-raff In, which she released last year, is all about the first six months she spent living in a Manchester boarding house after leaving Nazareth House.
Now Anne has added the final piece to her touching life story, in the last of her books, Finding Eileen.
Anne, 66, said: “After our mother died we uncovered a secret she had had a baby.
“We just thought she wanted a better life. The real reason she left us was because she was five months pregnant.”
Anne was left with her father Raphy at their North Ormesby home, along with her sister Elizabeth, four, and their brother, Dennis, 13.
However, 10 days later, Raphy took the girls to Nazareth House to be cared for by nuns for the next 13 years.
Anne said: “It was a stigma being a Nazzi House girl.
“It was difficult because me and Elizabeth were in different groups. Even though we were siblings we never mixed much. We never lived as a family again.”
In 1966, Anne at the age of 17, who admits she was looking for excitement, moved to Manchester. Her second memoir details the friendships she formed with the characters she met in the boarding house.
Anne Fothergill 
Anne Fothergill grew up as a child in Nazareth House, in Middlesbrough
The most recent and final memoir, Finding Eileen, begins in 1976, after their mum died.
The book details Anne and Elizabeth’s journey during which they find their long-lost sister. Together they embark on a journey of discovery and walk in the footsteps of a mother they didn’t know much about.
Anne said: “The book is about looking for Eileen. It took us 34 years. Elizabeth was shocked and I was equally as shocked. I always thought I was the baby of the family.”
Anne had been writing the books for a number of years but had always kept them to herself.
She said: “When we found Eileen that was it. I wanted to finish writing the books. I only intended to give it to her.”
Anne now lives in Thornaby and is married to Alan, 64. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
She said: “It is a legacy for my own children. I never even told them. It even took about 40 years for Alan to know the depth of it.
“I felt ashamed but with the passing of time it does not bother me.
“My story needed to be told, not only for my family but I hope it is an inspiration for other people that have gone through the same thing.”
Anne will be signing copies of Finding Eileen on Saturday at The Guisborough Bookshop, from 11am. All of the books are available to buy from Waterstones Middlesbrough, The Guisborough Bookshop and online at Amazon.
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