Review: Unique and Intimate Glimpse Into the Daily Life of Harper Lee
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2014
Subsequent to reading this book, I learned of the controversy surrounding the publication. Harper Lee now claims that she did not approve this biography. Nonetheless, it does appear that Marja Mills had sufficient access and trust to have a genuine glimpse into the lives of the Lee sisters, and her handling of their habits and quirks is respectful and gentle. This is no "tell-all" biography, and neither of the Lee sisters would be embarrassed to read anything in this book.Marja Mills, assigned by the Chicago Tribune to write an article on the elusive Harper Lee, visited the town of Monroeville, Alabama to find out more about the Lee family, and ended up moving there for about 15 months to live right next door to the Lee homestead. She shares her stories of spending time with the Lee sisters, Harper (Nell) and Alice, and the quiet but full life that they live in the deep south. Though Harper Lee was publicly a shy woman, she had a sharp wit and sharp mind and was worldly - splitting her time between her Alabama home and her apartment in New York City. She rarely gave interviews and avoided the limelight as much as possible. The access that Marja earned by being their next door neighbor offers insights that no other reporters have been able to gain in the 50+ years since the publication of "To Kill a Mockingbird" (TKAM). Marja was also suffering from a rather debilitating case of lupus, and her time in Alabama was meant to offer her some time for rest and recuperation, ands pending time with the 2 elderly sisters seems to be just what the doctor ordered.Ms. Mills found that the Lee sisters had a rich and full life with many local friends that helped to protect their privacy. Both sisters were cerebral book-readers with active and inquisitive minds; in fact their home was littered with toppling piles of books and reading material. The older of the two sisters, was still a practicing lawyer in the small town, well into her 90's.It was interesting to hear some of the back story of TKAM. Scout was the feisty younger equivalent of Harper, and Atticus was modeled after their father, also a lawyer. I had forgotten that Truman Capote was a childhood friend, and the eccentric character of Dill is supposedly modeled after him.Marja enjoyed the daily routine of living in Monroeville - going to the duck pond with Nell, enjoying a neighborly cup of coffee, taking drives through the countryside, sharing meals and dinner parties and entertainment. Sometimes she recorded conversations, sometimes she took notes, but frequently she was just a friend. It didn't take her long to discover that the main reason Harper Lee never wrote another novel was that she could never expect to achieve the success of the first novel, and she intensely disliked the notoriety and constant invasion of her privacy.Though some of the stories of daily life in Monroeville were amusing and revealing, I felt that the author had to really pad out the text to get it to book length. There is quite a bit of repetition. For instance, she mentioned Nell's friendship with Gregory Peck several times and quoted her as saying he was "delicious" more than once. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating glimpse behind the veil of secrecy and privacy that Harper Lee has created. The book also inspired me to re-read TKAM and watch the movie again. The appeal of this very American novel has not diminished at all over the decades.