Lee, Harper

(US, 1926– )

Harper Lee was born in Alabama, in the Deep South of the United States. Her first and only novel was To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), and it was sufficient to establish her literary reputation, winning her the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. Scout, the 9-year-old tomboy heroine of the novel, witnesses the trial of the black Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman. Her father, Atticus, is the defending lawyer. The trial is a device that lays bare the tensions and prejudice in Maycomb, a fictional town based on Monroeville, where the author grew up. The novel is not only part of the anti-racism canon and a powerful plea for tolerance, but also a lyrical and humorous evocation of growing up in small-town America in the 1930s, with a memorable heroine coming to terms with the eccentricities and unfairnesses of adult society.

Meera Syal (Anita and Me), Alice Walker, J. D. Salinger  SA