Marja Mills

This is a hard book to rate. The writing is not great, but there are enough details that it kept me interested. I didn't really learn anything new about Harper Lee, and don't really understand exactly how the Marja Mills was able to establish such a close relationship with her and her sister Alice. It feels as though there are some important details missing from the story. Finally, I had no idea about the controversy surrounding the book until just now, when I logged in to update my status after having finished reading. Now I'm left with a very uncomfortable feeling about the entire thing.… (more)

This was not a bad read, but it could hardly be considered a biography of Harper Lee. It's more of a memior of Marja Mills over the few years she had a friendship with sisters Alice and Nelle (Haper Lee's given first name). It has the feel of, "Nelle and I went here and did this. And then she said I couldn't talk about that." It does reveal a bit about how the Lee sisters spent their later years - still curious and active and quite dependent on each other. Overall, I'm glad I read this book for the few insights it gave into Nelle's life.… (more)

Aside from autobiographies, I generally don't like non fiction book where the author writes about themselves in relation to a subject. It is no different in he mockingbird next door. Author Marja Mills repeatedly congratulates herself on how special it is that she had complete access to Harper Lee. She tells her readers that she has piles of stories told by Nelle herself, her sister Alice or her friends. What happened to all those stories? There are not enough of them in the book to make it interesting. I felt we heard more about Marja's sorrows and insecurities than about Nelle Harper Lee. I can't believe that Nelle ever sanctioned this book.… (more)