Mockingbird A Portrait of Harper Lee

¿To Kill a Mockingbird¿ is the 20th cent. most widely read Amer. novel. But the book¿s author, Harper Lee, is a mysterious figure. Here, Shields brings to life the warmhearted and high-spirited, woman who gave us two of Amer. literature¿s most unforgettable characters -- Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout. Her life contains many highlights -- her girlhood as a tomboy in overalls in tiny Monroeville, AL; the murder trial that made her father¿s reputation and inspired her great work; and her journey to Kansas as Truman Capote¿s research assistant to help report the story of ¿In Cold Blood.¿ Highly entertaining, filled with humor and heart, this is an affectionate portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people she made immortal. N.Y. Times bestseller. Illus.