Mockingbird Songs

An indelible epistolary portrait of Harper Lee, one of the most beloved authors in the canon of American literature.The violent racism of the American South drove Wayne Flynt away from his home state of Alabama, but the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s classic novel about courage, community, and equality, inspired him to return in the early 1960s and craft a career documenting and teaching Alabama history. His writing resonated with many Alabamians, in particular three sisters: Louise, Alice, and Nelle Harper Lee. The two families first met in 1983, and a mutual respect and affection for the state’s history and literature matured into a deep friendship among them. Wayne Flynt and Nelle Harper Lee began writing to each other while she was living in New York—heartfelt, insightful, and humorous letters in which they swapped stories, information, and opinions on topics, including their families, books, social values, health concerns, and even their fears and accomplishments. Though their earliest missives began formally—“Dear Dr. Flynt”—as the years passed, their exchanges became more intimate and emotional, opening with “Dear Friend” and closing with “I love you, Nelle.” This is a remarkable compendium of a correspondence that lasted for a quarter century—until Harper Lee’s death in February 2016—and it offers an incisive and compelling look into the mind, heart, and work of one of the most admired authors in modern literary history.