Harper Lee in her father's law office while visting her home town of Monroeville, Alabama, May 1961.
Donald Uhrbrock/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images | Harper Lee, (1926-...), is an American author who became famous with her only novel, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1960). It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The plot centers on Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer in Alabama who defends a young black falsely accused of raping a white woman. The story is told by the lawyer's young daughter. The appeal of the novel lies in the author's ability to weave together the vivid eccentric characters of a small town, the observations of a sensitive child, and a plea for social justice. Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. She grew up in the state and attended the University of Alabama. Contributor: Noel Polk, Ph.D., Professor of English, University of Southern Mississippi. From THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA © 2007 World Book, Inc. By permission of the publisher. Visit World Book Encyclopedia for more information on Harper Lee and related subjects. | Next |
