Charles J. Shields is the first biographer of Nelle Harper Lee, author of To
Kill a Mockingbird, the twentieth centurys most widely read novel. Shields
portrait, while approved by the elusive Lee, includes no direct interviews with
his subject. He spent years compiling information from libraries and dozens of
interviewees many found through on-line connections.
Beginning with Lees family and her early years in Monroeville, Alabama, Shields
portrays the small-town Southern culture that molded the authors vision of the
world. He examines her early close friendship with Truman Capote as the two made their way through the world of neighbors and school and family challenges.
Harpers college years found her somewhat alone, even though she joined a
sorority and was editor of the “Rammer Jammer” at the University of Alabama.
Shields examines her writing life and the close relationships she developed as
an adult, and finally answers the two questions often asked about the enigmatic
author: Whatever happened to Harper Lee, and why did she only write one novel?
The Monroeville of Lees childhood foregrounds her early friendship with Truman
Capote through their common anguish. Capotes mother was anything but
attentive during the years of his childhood, while Lees mother was borderline
schizophrenic, requiring extra care and not able to be the warm presence one
associates with motherhood. The children were bound by their intellectual
curiosity and their outsider qualities in the small Southern town. Lees father
gave them a typewriter that they would haul around and use to make up stories.
Even in the early years, the once-abandoned Capote tested Lees loyalty, but she remained close. Shields describes their world: the neighbors, the school, their
tree house, and the characters that would later become models for Lees
masterpiece.
Descriptions of Lees college years reveal an eccentric, smart, and often lonely
woman coming into her own. Struggling with the dreams her father had for her and with her own desire to become a writer and to live in New York, she pursued a college career through three universities. Her fathers vision of Nelle taking
over the family law firm was halted by her decision to leave law school during
the final year. She was miserable. Difficult as it was – and without her
fathers blessing – Harper Lee took hold of her life, left the small town of
Monroeville, and moved to New York City, where she would write.
The New York years found her getting very close to a tight circle of friends: a
couple who gave her money so she could quit her menial jobs and spend time
writing; her agent and supporter; and finally her editor, with whom she worked
for three years on the manuscript of the novel. She also maintained contact with
Truman, and once the final draft of To Kill a Mockingbird was turned in to the
publisher, the friends traveled together to Kansas to gather information on the
Clutter murders.
This section of the book is fascinating, because it tells of Harper Lees
contribution to In Cold Blood. Shields reveals information Capote didn
include in the book, and also describes time in Kansas through Lees eyes. So
much has been said about Capote, we think we know the whole story; however, this rounded-out view gives a more complete picture of what actually went into the writing of In Cold Blood. Readers will understand how much Capote benefited from Lees involvement, and what a shame it was that she was not properly acknowledged by her childhood friend.
Nelle Harper Lee spent the years following the publication of her novel dealing
with the success of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It was exhausting for her.
Her editors and friends sustained her during this time, as did the kindness of
Gregory Peck and others involved in the movie. She wrote, publishing a few
pieces in magazines, but never complete the second novel she so worried and
labored over. After ten years, she was nowhere near finishing the book and vowed that she would only write it if the muse came. Rather, she would continue to be the famous and elusive author of the remarkable To Kill a Mockingbird, doing all that that entailed.
Through the years following the release of her novel, Lees sister Alice called
upon her to help with family matters. She kept an apartment in New York City but
eventually moved back to Monroeville, where she still lives with Alice. Alice
took over Lees finances, the family law firm, and acted as a sort of secretary
for her famous sister, turning down offers to speak and helping shield Lee from
the intrusive world of the press and others wanting to have access to Lees
private life.
In 2005, Lee turned 79 and her sister Alice, 92. Harper travels to New York for
several months each year and visits museums, has lunch with friends and soaks up the city she called home some fifty years earlier. Her novel has been selected
for city-wide reading campaigns, even as it is banned in some libraries. Shields
has painted a vivid portrait of a woman who has made one of the greatest
contributions, through her remarkable book, to many of us living in these times.
Review by Sarah Bagby
