A NORTH-EAST grandmother has published the last in a trilogy of books about her traumatic upbringing.

Finding Eileen recounts Anne Fothergill’s emotive attempts to track down her long lost sister after a childhood spent in an orphanage.

Mrs Fothergill and her sister were brought up in a Middlesbrough convent run by the Poor Sisters of Nazareth after being abandoned by their mother.

The pair spent 13 years in care and later found that their mother had given birth to another daughter shortly after walking out on her family.

During a lengthy search, the sisters discovered their long-lost sibling, Eileen, had been born in Scotland and raised in Australia.

They were happily reunited with her when she made contact via the internet in 2011.

The reunion inspired Mrs Fothergill to put pen to paper and write about her traumatic past.

Since then, the 66-year-old has penned three books about her life – Memoirs of a Nazareth House Girl, Don’t Let the RiffRaff In and the latest, Finding Eileen.

She said: “This book’s about getting to know my sister.

“I thought I was the baby of the family and it was a shock to find that we had another sibling.

“We were strangers but now we stay in touch and it’s been an amazing experience.”

Mrs Fothergill’s books are stocked at Waterstones in Middlesbrough and at the Guisborough Book Shop.

However, she is hoping that booksellers across the region will support her by putting the books on sale.

Anyone who can help by stocking the books can email Mrs Fothergill at anne.fothergill@ntlworld.com