The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee - Softcover

Mills, Marja

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143127667 ISBN 13: 9780143127666

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2015

Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller
 
“A winning, nuanced portrait. . . . It seems unlikely we’ll ever have a better record of a remarkable American life.” —USA Today
 
"There are many reasons to be grateful for The Mockingbird Next Door....A zesty account of two women living on their own terms yet always guided by the strong moral compass instilled in them by their father.... It is also an atmospheric tale of changing small-town America; of an unlikely, intergenerational friendship between the young author and her elderly subjects; of journalistic integrity; and of grace and fortitude.... The world [Mills] depicts is sadly gone, but—lucky for us—she caught it just in time."—Washington Post

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best loved novels of the twentieth century. Yet for the last fifty years, the novel’s celebrated author, Harper Lee, known to her friends as Nelle, has said almost nothing on the record. But in 2001, Nelle and her sister, Alice Finch Lee, opened their door to Chicago Tribune journalist Marja Mills. It was the beginning of a long conversation—and a wonderful friendship. Mills was given a rare opportunity to know Nelle, to be a part of the Lees’ life in Alabama, and to hear them reflect on their upbringing, their corner of the Deep South, and how To Kill a Mockingbird affected their lives.

About this title

Review:

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, July 2014: In 2001, Chicago Tribune journalist Marja Mills traveled to Monroeville, Alabama in search of something that no other journalist had been able to land: an interview with the reclusive Harper Lee. Instead, she got an interview with her older sister, Alice--content with that, Mills prepared to return to Chicago to write her story. But then she got word that Lee (known as “Nelle” to those close to her) wanted to sit down for a “visit.” Many visits later they were friends, and in 2004 Mills was even invited to move in next door to the Lee sisters’ home. Underneath the plain, clear language of The Mockingbird Next Door is an enchanting, atmospheric portrait of two sisters and the southern town they inhabit (when Harper Lee is not living in New York). Mills makes a point of avoiding gossip, but that hardly matters. The book is compelling and charming; and it brings Harper Lee and her world, both past and present, to full life. --Chris Schluep

About the Author:

MARJA MILLS is a former reporter and feature writer for the Chicago Tribune, where she was a member of the staff that won a Pulitzer Prize for a 2001 series about O’Hare Airport entitled “Gateway to Gridlock.”

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0143127667
• ISBN 13: 9780143127666
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304