Book Review: The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee by Marja Mills

The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee

by Marja Mills (Biography Lee)

 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of my all-time favorite novels. The characters that Harper Lee created and described are so vivid and memorable that this book became a hit almost immediately with the American people. The success of this book was such that it nearly overwhelmed its creator, who made the choice to not publish any more books until the end of her life. Harper withdrew from fame and lived a private life in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, with her older sister, Alice. For many years, Nelle Harper Lee refused to be interviewed or to discuss her book with the media. That all changed when Marja Mills of the Chicago Tribune contacted Harper to let her know that she was doing an article about the book in conjunction with the One Book, One Chicago program in the Chicago Public Library system. Harper responded with a rare statement: “When the people of Chicago assemble in various parts of the city to read and discuss To Kill a Mockingbird, there is no greater honor the novel could receive.” Marja headed to Alabama to find out more about this illusive author. Marja met Nelle Harper Lee and eventually became friends with Nelle and Alice, even moving in next door to them. We as readers get to be part of the inner circle of friends of the Lee family, getting to know them through their daily activities and conversations. The more I read this book, the more I wished I could have been there experiencing the developing friendship between these unlikely neighbors. One of my favorite lines in the book is from Nelle Harper Lee herself, responding to the question why she never wrote anything else: “Two reasons — first, I wouldn’t go through all the pressure and publicity I went through with Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say and I will not say it again.” This is a delightful book full of love and wit. I highly recommend it.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles Shields, the movie To Kill a Mockingbird starring Gregory Peck, and the original novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.)

 

( publisher’s official The Mockinbird Next Door web page)

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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