Mockingbird:A Portrait of Harper Lee: From Scout to Go Set a WatchmanBy Charles J. Shields

About the Book

An extensively revised and updated edition of the bestselling biography of Harper Lee, reframed from the perspective of the recent publication of Lee’s Go Set a Watchman

To Kill a Mockingbird—the twentieth century’s most widely read American novel—has sold thirty million copies and still sells a million yearly. In this in-depth biography, first published in 2006, Charles J. Shields brings to life the woman who gave us two of American literature’s most unforgettable characters, Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout.

Years after its initial publication—with revisions throughout the book and a new epilogue—Shields finishes the story of Harper Lee’s life, up to its end. There’s her former agent getting her to transfer the copyright for To Kill a Mockingbird to him, the death of Lee’s dear sister Alice, a fuller portrait of Lee’s editor, Tay Hohoff, and—most vitally—the release of Lee’s long-buried first novel and the ensuing public devouring of what has truly become the book of the year, if not the decade: Lee’s Go Set a Watchman.

Discussion Questions

1. Would you say that Harper Lee’s character and personality are consistent throughout her life? Why?

2. Harper Lee relied on events, people, and circumstances from her early life to create both To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. Does this mean her novels are autobiographical?

3. Segregationists made the argument that keeping the races separate contributed to law and order. What do you think of that argument? Is it justified?

4. Harper Lee and Truman Capote knew they were different somehow from other people. Have you had that feeling? Are there differences that are unacceptable?

5. Tay Hohoff played an important role in helping Harper Lee shape what became To Kill a Mockingbird. Is that a comment on the author’s talent?

6. Should Go Set a Watchman have been released in 1960?

7. Gregory Peck insisted that the film To Kill a Mockingbird be reedited several times to make the character of Atticus more prominent at the expense of the children’s scenes. If you’ve seen the film, do you feel that it was better or worse for Peck getting his way?

8. What were the effects of Alice Lee taking control of her sister’s affairs? Do you agree with the way she did?

9. If you could meet one of the people in Harper Lee’s life, who would it be? Why?

10. What’s your favorite part of the biography? What’s your least favorite?

About the AuthorCharles J. Shields is the author of And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, the highly acclaimed, bestselling biography of Harper Lee, and I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers). He grew up in the Midwest and taught in a rural school in central Illinois for several years. He has been a reporter for public radio, a journalist, and the author of nonfiction books for young people. He and his wife live near Charlottesville, Virginia.