Imagine This: Growing Up with My Brother John Lennon [Paperback]

The flood of biographies of the Beatles and their friends and families shows no sign of abating. Most of them repeat much of what we already know, with the occasional new insight or anecdote. This book stands out from the rest. As another reviewer puts it, this is "worthy in its own write [nice allusion!] as an autobiography of Julia Baird". Her story of her childhood would hit home even in an alternate universe where the Beatles had never happened.

We have long known that John was brought up by his Aunt Mimi, and that his mother's death in a road accident cruelly ended his chance to form an independent relationship with her. This book portrays as never before the stern matriarchy of the Stanley family, in which "keeping up appearances" was paramount. Although John's mother (Julia senior) was adored by her sisters, they came to see her as the black sheep of the family, and this contributed to the fractured, unhappy life of her and her children.

Julia Baird tells us about the sunshine as well as the shadows, and her love and admiration for her charismatic mother and brother are very evident. However, without stating the obvious she leaves us in little doubt why John, once plunged into the goldfish bowl of Beatlemania, had his own share of relationship problems.

Much of the book hinges around Mimi's alleged moral hypocrisy. According to Julia Baird, Mimi on her deathbed said she was frightened of dying because she had been so wicked. In her own biography of John, Cynthia Lennon (who is just as well-qualified to judge Mimi) quotes Julia's allegation, so it rings true.

Hopefully it is some small consolation to Julia Baird that her mother's name lives on in John's touching ballad "Julia" and in Julian's name too.

As in many accounts of John, Yoko is depicted in less than flattering terms.

I recently finished reading this book and found it to be (what I consider) a truthful account of what John & his sisters life was like as children and the life-long affect it has had on them. Most books written about John 'gloss' over the early years with Aunt Mimi, Uncle George, his mother Julia and his sisters. We have always read about the puritanical Mimi and the fun, beautiful,carefree Julia. Ms. Baird however, introduces us to everyone through her eyes and in doing so, offers the reader a very rare insight into their lives and the emotional rollercoster they had to ride. With great clarity we can sense the raw, heart wrenching pain they experienced in losing their mother and ultimately, their determination to survive.

As stated in the previous review, the only other account that we have of John that is written with complete honesty are those written by Cynthia Lennon; 'A Twist of Lennon' and 'Lennon'.

Thank you Julia, for this wonderful glimpse of 'Growing up with John'.

This is a very moving and intimate account of love and anguish, intimacy and permanent longing.

I really enjoyed reading the recent biography of John Lennon by Cynthia. It opened up a substantive and new angle from which "Lennonologists" could view the object of their interest. In particular, there were shadings of Aunt Mimi in a slightly less than a "couldn't put a foot wrong" light. Having read Julia Baird's earlier book on John I was anxious to read this one, especially as there were initial reviews saying there would be much more information on the early years of John's life.

From the outset I wish to stress that this book is not really one for Beatles / Lennon fans who do not want to scratch beneath the surface. Much of the already overly published accounts of the Beatles and their rise to fame are thankfully mentioned in passing. This book has the resounding theme of the woefully premature loss of a beautiful (inside and out) mother and "wife" by her children and her "husband". (The quotation marks are not meant to convey disrespect; only legal accuracy.)

It explores the pain and betrayal of those affected by the stigma of not having had a stable family, and the loss of identity that ensues. I wish to stress once more: it is worth reading this book for the author's own life story; the John Lennon theme is almost an additional merit of its content.

The portrayals of the usually encountered personae from the Lennon history in this book are eye-opening, or even revolutionary. The inclusion of those not normally mentioned helps to build up a clearer picture. I don't want to spoil any of the surprises. Let's just say that anyone wishing to know more about the reasons why John Lennon was the way that he was should not hesitate - buy it. If you've ever wanted to know more about John's family... Julia (snr), the Stanley sisters, Albert Dykins, his sisters and cousins, this is the only book to my knowledge that contains the necessary information.

As with the other, aforementioned Lennon biography, this one has a tone of intimacy and open honesty. There is almost a potted history of how a severely wronged person goes through the various stages of denial, anger and evolving into forgiveness or at least acceptance.

I don't think there will be another Lennon book written which will be worth reading after the two mentioned in this review. I'd like to be proven wrong, but I don't think there is anyone else who knew him as well as these two authors and who would be able to write such human and intimate recollections.