The U.K. May Be Getting Its James Frey Moment

Kathy O'Beirne's family has come forward to dispute claims made in her memoir, specifically that the Irish author was abused by her father and sent away to the Magdalen laundries at a young age.

Her book, Kathy's Story: A Childhood Hell in the Magdalen Laundries, which is also called Don't Ever Tell in some countries, has sold more than 247,000 copies in the U.K., according to Nielsen BookScan. Yet despite its popularity in the U.K., the book has not yet sold 1,000 copies since it was published in April in the United States, where it is called Kathy's Story: The True Story of a Childhood Hell Inside Ireland's Magdalen Laundries.

O'Beirne wrote in her book, "I was consigned to a hell of beatings and abuse. It was one long scream of suffering which has haunted all of my adult life." O'Beirne also wrote that she was beaten by her father, sexually abused from the age of 5 and sent to the Magdalen laundries and other institutions where she was whipped by nuns, raped by priests and forced to take drugs.

Yesterday, O'Beirne's brothers and sisters held a press conference to dispute claims made in the book, The Guardian reported today.

"The reason we got together was because of the allegations she was making against our father," said Oliver O'Beirne, the oldest brother. "They are totally untrue. I read her book from beginning to end and wanted to get a pen out and cross out everything that was not true."

"Yes, we got a belt [at home] if we did something wrong; that was normal then," he continued, "But talk of sexual abuse is absolute rubbish. We were reared to respect others and be courteous to everyone."

In addition to the denial from O'Beirne's siblings, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, a religious organization that runs the Magdalen laundries, said they were unable to find attendance records for Kathy O'Beirne, the Times reported yesterday.

O'Beirne's sister Mary O'Beirne also spoke out, saying her sister was not sent to the Magdalene laundries as a child, but that she was sent to St. Anne's children's home for a brief time due to behavioral problems.

"Our sister did not have a child [through a rape] at the age of 14 that she alleges died at the age of 10," Mary O'Beirne said, The Guardian reported. "The anger and frustration we feel at seeing our father branded worldwide as a horrific abuser is indescribable. The allegations are untrue against my father."

O'Beirne has not commented on her siblings' denial of the events in her memoir, but in a recent radio interview, she insisted that events in her memoir were true.

Mainstream, the publisher of the book, issued a statement yesterday saying, "Mainstream took steps prior to the publication of Don't Ever Tell and were satisfied that the memoir was appropriate for publication. Don't Ever Tell was put under considerable media scrutiny?without any content being found to be untrue."

O'Beirne's siblings are asking for the book to be removed from stores.