JOHN Lennon's sister wants the world to know the truth about their mother. Laura Davis reports

We meet outside the Beatles Story at the Albert Dock, where fans who had Lennon's poster on their bedroom walls have no idea that the unassuming woman they have just walked past without a backward glance is his sister.
 
Despite her petite frame, she looks incredibly strong, as you would have to be to sit down and face the traumas of the past, never mind publish them for the world to judge.
 
"Part of the reason for writing the book is that it will go into the British library and hopefully, 50 years down the line, the next John experts will go along the shelf and think this was by his sister so it must be closest to the truth."
 
The fourth of five sisters, Julia Stanley was just 14 when she met Alf Lennon in Sefton Park. She told him to remove his "silly hat" and he obliged by throwing it in the lake.
 
His cheeky reaction made her laugh and they were still a couple 10 years later when they cele-brated their marriage with a trip to the cinema.
 
A pretty girl, with shoulder- length auburn hair that made the boys wolf-whistle as they passed her in the street, she was undoubtedly her father's favourite daughter, something her sisters would come to resent.
 
Alf was away at sea with the Merchant Navy when Julia realised she was pregnant with her first child. John was about a year old when she later learned her husband had gone AWOL while his ship was docked in America.
 
Alf later claimed he had actually been sent to jail for theft, but denied the charge.
 
He returned 18 months later but soon left again, and in the meantime, lonely and broke, Julia met a young Welsh soldier who was home on leave.
 
Their affair was brief but it was to change her life. Pregnant with an illegitimate baby that her own father insisted would have to be adopted, she fell into depression and her sister, Mimi (also known as Mary), stepped in to help look after John.