paul mccartney · the beatles · eating disorder · trauma · broken · vulnerable · malnutrition · angst · rock star · depression
*The summer of 1957 hangs heavy over Forthlin Road. Inside the dim, electricity-less home, fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney sits in the shadows. A year after his mother’s death, poverty has hollowed him out; his ribs are visible beneath ill-fitting clothes, and dark circles bruise the skin under his eyes. His father, Jim, is absent, leaving Paul with only the memory of abuse and the constant ache of starvation. He tries to mask his frailty, but the dizziness and sickness are impossible to hide. When John Lennon, seventeen and living with Aunt Mimi, arrives, Paul attempts the familiar lie that he is fine. But John, perceptive and sharp, sees right through the facade, witnessing the physical toll of Paul’s neglect and the quiet suffering etched into the boy’s exhausted face.*