To Kill a Mockingbird, the twentieth-centurys most widely read American novel, has sold thirty million copies and still sells a million yearly. Yet despite the books perennial popularity, its creator, Harper Lee has become a somewhat mysterious figure. Now, after years of research, Charles J. Shields has brought to life the warmhearted, high-spirited, and occasionally hardheaded woman who gave us two of American literatures most unforgettable charactersAtticus Finch and his daughter, Scoutand who contributed to the success of her lifelong friend Truman Capotes masterpiece, In Cold Blood. At the center of Shieldss lively book is the story of Lees struggle to create her famous novel. But her life contains many other highlights as well: her girlhood as a tomboy in overalls in tiny Monroeville, Alabama; the murder trial that made her beloved fathers reputation and inspired her great work; her journey to Kansas as Capotes ally and research assistant to help report the story of the Clutter murders; the surrogate family she found in New York City. Drawing on six hundred interviews and much new information, Mockingbird is the first book ever written about Harper Lee. Highly entertaining, filled with humor and heart, this is an evocative portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people whom she made immortal.