Cynthia Lennon

The first wife of the English rock musician discusses their courtship, the early years of their marriage, the impact of the success of the Beatles on their relationship, their divorce, and her struggles as a single mother.

John

Erin 

I have had such a long desire to read this book that at times I cannot believe I actually got my hands on a copy. For years, every time I have gone into a bookstore, I use their self-search kiosks to see if they had this book on the shelves. For years, it was never there. Of course I could always find it online and have it shipped to my door in 5 working business days, but I had gotten it in my head that I needed to go to a physical book store and buy a physical copy. After all the searching I had done, that was the only way I was going to be truly pleased. And then one day this summer, I was in New York City at the Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side, telling myself that any books I bought now would only add weight to my suitcase on the plane ride home, and I found it. It was the only copy on the shelf, and it wasn't even the cover/edition I had my eyes on. But I had wanted it for so long, I was in New York, and I needed this book.

Worth. The. Wait.

John is amazing. I have had such a struggle in the past with my admiration of John Lennon. Right from the beginning of my love affair with the Beatles, I always called John my favorite. I have no idea why - maybe it was the glasses. But after years of denial of the kind of person he was and the things he did to the people he once loved, I forced myself to admit that he was not the person I had built up in my head. I abandoned him as my favorite and set out to choose another one (right now I pick George because I don't know anything about him yet). Once realising that Cynthia, his first wife and mother of his first child, had written about his life both before and during the rise of the Beatles, I knew I needed to read the book to come to terms with myself and remind myself that the image of John Lennon in my head I had crafted and had resembled something far away from the man he had actually become. And like previously mentioned, it was worth the pain and struggle I went through to track the book down. I don't know if Cynthia had a ghost writer or a helper assisting her in writing her story, but it was very well-written. Sometimes I almost forgot how big the Beatles were during the 60s, just because Cynthia writes from the sidelines of the story and not the centre. It really was an eye-opening book, and now I want to read a book about each of the Beatles, preferably by someone at their sides and not themselves. The pain I felt for Cynthia and Julian was real, and the hatred for John's betrayal with Yoko was heart-wrenching. 

If you have any interest in the Beatles, John, Julian, or Cynthia, any interest at all, I would recommend you read this book. I absolutely loved it and would read it again for the first time if I could.

John

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