The Beatles' Shadow

A poignant memoir of the forgotten Beatle, Stuart Sutcliffe, and a remarkable account of the early days of the world's most influential pop group.Stuart Sutcliffe is the most famous contender for the crown of 'fifth Beatle'. One of the founding members, a close friend of Lennon, he left the band after their Hamburg sojourn in order to pursue his promising career as an artist, dying shortly thereafter of a brain haemorrage. For years his sister Pauline has tried to protect his memory against the Beatles' need to sanitise their early history and now she is ready to tell the real story. In doing so she sheds new light on their formative period - the rivalry with McCartney, how George Harrison tried to keep the peace, the truth about Stuart's intense relationship with Lennon and why Lennon was haunted by guilt over her brother's death. And she describes what it was like for those like herself and Cynthia Lennon who have lived with the Beatles in their lives all their lives, although this was not of their choosing.Drawing on her own memories as well as the many letters in her possession, Pauline Sutcliffe shares her unique insight into the young men who became the Beatles. But above all this book is a loving tribute to Stuart, who died at the age of twenty-one, but whose contribution to the Beatles lives on.