Harper Lee did what most writers dream of doing - gain success off the back of one book. Her only published novel for over 50 years, To Kill A Mockingbird, is still acclaimed, lucrative and on every 'must read' list across the globe.
Following the success of her debut she became a recluse, shunning fame. It wasn't until she was in ill health and in a nursing home, the sequel Go Set a Watchman was published by lawyers. What speaks volumes is she never left her roots of Monroeville, Alabama until her death - announced today - which provided the inspiration and backdrop for both of her bestsellers.
As a Pulitzer Prize winner and best friend of Truman Capote (another great American writer whose best book, In Cold Blood, was hugely influenced by her as a researcher), she did what most writers were afraid to do, she wrote about a sensitive subject; America's shameful and ignored history of bigotry. Along with Toni Morrison's Beloved, her book helped change perception and create empathy for a segregated community in a developed, free and democratic nation.
If anyone has ever read To Kill A Mockingbird, you'll know what an amazing tour de force it really is. Even more so because it rings as true now as it did when it was published in 1960.
The book was ahead of its time with its depiction of a black man wrongly accused of rape in the segregated deep south of a America. He was defended by moral compass Atticus Finch, who discredited Tom Robinson's accusers with tragic consequences.
The protagonists of the book was his daughter; rebellious and curious tom boy, Scout and her brother Jem. Who narrated the scene with maturing eyes.
They learnt not to judge people (illustrated by their fear of loner Boo Radley) and how doing the right thing doesn't always work. Also about revenge, murder and corruption. A hard lesson, however old you are.
This blistering coming-of-age tale has left its mark not only in literature, but culturally. Her story resonates now, just as it did back then, just look at the #BlackLivesMatter movement in America and equality campaigns all over the world. I hope her message brings to the forefront how unequal and unfair the system is in death as it did in life.
RIP Harper Lee. One of the greatest writers for pushing the boundaries and being true to herself, right til the end.
