The Mockingbird next door

the long version

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the best loved novels of the twentieth century. But for the last fifty years, the novel's celebrated author has said almost nothing on the record. Journalists have trekked to her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, trying and failing to get an interview her. But in 2001, Nelle Harper Lee and her sister Alice opened their door to journalist Marja Mills. It was the beginning of a long conversation.