The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee

(Paperback)

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Journalists have trekked to Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, where she has lived with her sister Alice for decades, trying and failing to get an interview with the author. But in 2001, the Lee sisters opened their door to Chicago Tribune journalist Marja Mills. It was the beginning of a long conversation and a great friendship. In 2004, with the Lees' blessing, Mills moved in next door to the sisters and spent the next eighteen months there, sharing their lives as they slowly revealed their life stories and their love of literature and the South.

Reviews

Washington Post:
"There are many reasons to be grateful forThe Mockingbird Next Door, Marja Millss wonderful memoir of Harper Lee and her sister.Sympathetic and respectful it may be, butThe Mockingbird Next Dooris no sycophantic puff piece. It is 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. Mills doesnt avoid prickly issues, but she approaches them obliquely and accepts partial answers. Despite her enervating illness, Millss writing is energetic.The Mockingbird Next Dooris warm yet wistful, a lament for the books Harper Lee never wrote. It ends on an elegiac note, since by the time Mills was able to complete it, the Lees were fading fast, in separate assisted-living facilities. The world she depicts is sadly gone, butlucky for usshe caught it just in time."

USA Today:
A lot of people have a lot of ideas about what it means to be American, but heres one more:To Kill a Mockingbird. . .That fact alone makesThe Mockingbird Next Door, a memoir byChicago Tribunereporter Marja Mills about her friendship with the books author, Harper Lee, a valuable artifact. Its also a thoughtful, sweet-tempered, witty piece of work . . . The Mockingbird Next Dooroffers a winning, nuanced portrait. Indeed, given Lees deep privacy and advanced age, it seems unlikely well ever have a better record of a remarkable American life.

People:
[Marja Mills] has written an intimate, moving book about a rare talent.

NPRFresh Air, Maureen Corrigan:
Charming . . .The Mockingbird Next Dooroffers a rich sense of the daily texture of the Lee sisters lives . . . The world that Mills was invited into over a decade ago has disappeared: both Alice (now 102) and Harper Lee (now 88) are in nursing homes, memories faded. Fortunately, in Mills, the sisters found a genteel family chronicler knocking at their door at the eleventh hour.

O, The Oprah Magazine:
"Mills has done what no writer before her could: She got Harper Lee to open up about her life, her work, and why she never wrote another book.

Boston Globe:
A rare, surprising, and respectful look at the Lees and their milieu.

Vanity Fair:
Hot Type: The Mockingbird Sings: More important than these answers, however, is the voice of Lee herselfand her message, which we still need to hear.

Elle:

In telling their story inThe Mockingbird Next Door, Mills writes with the amazement of one who feels kissed by fate. We in turn are blessed with an intimate portrait of Lee.

Shelf Awareness:
The development of trust and friendship between Mills and the Lee sisters took time, but even in those first minutes, the relationship was nearly unprecedented Told charmingly in the Lees southern drawl and with the affection and closeness that the story reveals,The Mockingbird Next Dooris quietly admiring and satisfyingly intimate, and will captivate not only fans of Lees great American novel, but fans of real people living modest lives in small-town Alabama, or anywhere.

Southern Living:
ReadingThe Mockingbird Next Dooris like opening a window into Harper Lees private world. As the window closes on the last page, were left with nostalgia for one of literatures greatest talents and the feeling we had the very first time we read her remarkable novel.

OWN, The Oprah Winfrey Network:

Another real discovery This intrepid journalist learned more about the stories behindTo Kill a Mockingbirdand Harper Lee than anyone before, after or since.

Good Housekeeping:

This glimpse of a rare bird is delightful.

BookPage:
A winning and affectionate account..The Mockingbird Next Dooroffers a tender look at one of our most beloved and enigmatic writers, as well as the town that inspired her.

Garden and Gun:
[Mills is] a skilled writer and storytellerThe Mockingbird Next Doorhas a near perfect combination of story and fact.

Books & Culture
[U]nlike the masses that went before her, Mills pulls off a journalistic coup by getting first Lees sister Alice to open doors for her and then Lee herself . . . Mills has enjoyed unprecedented access to Lee, and we should be grateful for the tidbits she throws our way.

Houston Chronicle
"ForTo Kill a Mockingbirdfans it's a must-read."

Book Reporter
"Mills's book is remarkable."

Author Bio

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."