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50th Anniversary Edition

By Harper Lee

Narrated by: Sissy Spacek
Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Format: Unabridged
Release Date: 07-08-14
Publisher: Harper Audio
My Rating: 5 Stars

As always, Harper Lee, a literary icon, and Pulitzer prize-winning masterwork of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is one of honor and injustice in the deep-south--a memorable 50th Anniversary Collection.

The heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred—"A must have audiobook" to add to any avid reader’s collection of classics. Highly Recommend!

Even though I read this gripping, heart-wrenching tale years, ago, was delighted to buy the audiobook, as Sissy Spacek’s performance in this remarkable coming- of-age Southern novel was remarkable! Read through the eyes of a young girl, as her father, a crusading local lawyer risk everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

In addition, through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a coming-of-age timeless story, an anti-racist novel, a historical drama of the Great Depression and a sublime example of the Southern writing tradition. Rereading the novel as an adult, you come to admire the writing for more than race, class region, and time.

Coming 7/15/14, "The Mockingbird Next Door:

Life with Harper Lee" by Marja Mills
I am looking forward to reading, The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee (view video) by Marja Mills, a former reporter for the Chicago Tribune and a staff Pulitzer Prize winner for a 2001 series about O’Hare Airport entitled “Gateway to Gridlock.” The Mockingbird Next Door is her first book. Penguin Group (USA).

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, Harper Lee, has said almost nothing on the record. Journalists have trekked to her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, where Harper Lee, known to her friends as Nelle, has lived with her sister, Alice, for decades, trying and failing to get an interview with the author. But in 2001, the Lee sisters opened their door to Chicago Tribune journalist Marja Mills. It was the beginning of a long conversation—and a great friendship.

The Mockingbird Next Door is the story of Mills’s friendship with the Lee sisters. It is a testament to the great intelligence, sharp wit, and tremendous storytelling power of these two women, especially that of Nelle.

(P.S The Mockingbird Next Door contains fascinating material on Harper Lee's important friendship with her longtime friend Truman Capote).

A definite two books, to add to your reading list!

Coming 7/15/14

"The Mockingbird Next Door: 

Life with Harper Lee"

By Marja Mills