Read: Yes
Length: 278
Quick Review: Marja Mills is one of the few people who knew Harper Lee intimately. She tells her tale of moving in next door to get to know the aging reclusive author.
Nelle Harper Lee penned one of the greatest American novels: To Kill A Mockingbird. Fame came swiftly to the small town woman. After a few years in the limelight, a Pulitzer Prize, and an Academy Award Winning film, she withdrew from public. She refused interviews and autographs. As the decades passed, she became an enigma.
Marja Mills wandered into Monroeville, Alabama on an assignment for her Chicago newspaper. She knocked on Nelle’s door expecting it to never open or to be sent away. Instead, she met Alice Lee, Nelle’s older sister. What happened in the following minutes would altar Mill’s life and the world’s perspective on a beloved author. Mills met Alice Lee, close family friends no one had access to previously, and eventually Harper Lee. For some reason, Lee liked and trusted Mills from the beginning and allowed her unprecedented access. Over time, their relationship grew from acquaintances to close friends. Mills had health problems, which caused her take time off from her job in Chicago. She used that time to get to know Harper Lee and her life.
I wasn’t expecting the book I read. The title The Mockingbird Next Door made me think it would be about Harper Lee. Instead it was Mills memoir about her time spent with Lee. As wonderful as Mills is, I would love to learn all the secrets of Lee’s life. I did enjoy the book for what it was.
It is evident from the beginning, Mills has a deep affection for the Lee family. Lee never opened up to anyone outside of her close family and friends. There’s the sentiment that Mills can barely contain her excitement she was let into the close circle of friends.
Mills writes authentically. She tells the story of Harper Lee honestly. There is a lot of reverence for the great author, but Mills makes sure the reader knows the humanity of the author.
Memorable Quotes
“Methodist or Baptist, Alabama fan or Auburn. These things mattered. They determined who your people were.”
“And that was something she cares about, deeply: the ability to live her life on her own terms. She answered to nobody.”
“How does anyone live up to the mystique that had grown up around her?”
Title: The Mockingbird Next Door; Life with Harper Lee
Author: Marja Mills
Publisher: The Penguin Press (Penguin Group)
Copyright: 2014
ISBN: 9781594205194
