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View Full Version : The Mockingbird Next Door by Marja Mills



PolWatch
07-30-2014, 08:00 AM
Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, lives in a small town (Monroeville, AL) and is well known as someone who does not give interviews. She has not published anything since TKM. Marja Mills (former Chicago Tribune reporter) became friends with Nell (Harper) Lee & her sister, Alice and was allowed unheard of access to their lives & memories. The sisters even arranged for her to rent the house next door for over a year. They gave permission to family & friends to talk to the author.

All the above made me think that finally, we would learn more about this talented but elusive author. Nope. Apparently the access was based on an agreement that little to nothing would be published. There is a lot about eating in local restaurants and driving around south Alabama that provides context to the influences on Lee but through the lens of 70+ years later than the book's era.

Truman Capote was a lying psychopath who did not contribute to TKM. The Lee's mother did not try to drown Nell Harper. Nell really likes coffee and is very good with words. Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance in Capote was 'uncanny' in his portrayal of Truman Capote. She forgives Sandra Bullock for wearing white socks with black dress shoes in the movie, Infamous.

I had hoped to learn more about the woman and the influences that created one of my favorite books. This book was a disappointment (to me).