Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and author Ian Leslie for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

I have a close friend who is a Beatles fanatic. Last year, we went on a Beatles trek through Liverpool as well as Hamburg, so I’ve become a bit more knowledgeable about Lennon and McCartney through her. When I saw this book, it was something I was very interested in.

Without interviewing either of the surviving Beatles, author Ian Leslie dives into the relationship between these two men, who were the most gifted songwriters of the 20th century. He provides their backgrounds growing up in Liverpool, most of which I already knew, as well as their tempestuous relationship through fame and fortune. Leslie has combed through interviews given by the two of them to present a lot of their own words, feeling that it wouldn’t have been fair to let one half of this songwriting duo reflect on their relationship or provide details and context while the other one no longer could.

The result is a very good book. Going in, I didn’t think I would like this as much as I did by the time I read the last page. Their lives before they met are detailed enough to get an idea that they were very much two different boys before they met, but also had a lot in common. John Lennon was the product of a broken relationship and spent most of his early years in the care of his Aunt Mimi, even though both his mother and father were still alive. His mother, Julia, died in his teens. Paul McCartney grew up in a poor but close nuclear family that was mostly supported by his mother, who was a nurse and midwife. His mother died when he was younger than John, but they had that loss in common.

Their ability to write songs is like no one else. Leslie does a terrific job showing how so many of their hits came about, usually by just being in a room and jamming together. Other times, one would have some lyrics or a bit of a tune, and they’d build on it together. There were very few songs in The Beatles’ repertoire that could be called “a John song” or “a Paul song.”

It’s the actual relationship between the two men that Leslie dives into the most. There is no question that these two men loved each other. He indicates that their relationship was unique in the depth of love they had for each other, without it being sexual. He questions if some of it was, and that was where the jealousies kicked up when Paul found Linda and John found Yoko. Granted, they had both had long-term relationships before that, but it seems like Linda and Yoko filled the places in their lives that at one time had been filled by each other. Add in suspicions about money and management that fractured the group, and it wasn’t going to be long before they broke up.

The shame is that Lennon’s murder took away any possibility of reconciliation. This was the part of the book I enjoyed the most: reading how they rebuilt the friendship following the acrimonious breakup of The Beatles. Leslie shows how the two men traded public jibes through the songs they wrote in their solo careers, until Paul was the one who offered up an olive branch.

I came away with many new insights into Lennon in particular. It would seem he was more deeply affected by the absence of his parents and then his mother’s death than Paul was. He was prone to mercurial moods, which could change in an instant. Leslie has read Cynthia Lennon’s memoir for insights into Lennon during the early years of The Beatles. Even after he practically abandoned her and their son together, she seems to have had an understanding that John’s problems were deeper than just her. I’m sure she spent plenty of time angry and sad at his behavior, but also seemed to find a way to forgive him.

The legacy from Paul’s mother’s death seems to be a tendency to bury emotions. Early on, Leslie highlights a short interaction with the press by McCartney the morning after Lennon was murdered. Paul’s response was “it’s a drag,” which might seem flippant, until you understand that he was conditioned not to show emotion in public.

I recommend this to Beatles fans, even ones that are not quite as fanatical as my friend is. There’s a lot of insight into who they were and why they were so remarkable. At the time they found fame, initially the musical artists did not write their own material. If you grew up after the early 1960s, that seems shocking. I have a better appreciation for just why it’s considered that The Beatles changed everything musically when they appeared on the scene.