Journalists have trekked to Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, where she 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. In 2004, with the Lees' blessing, Mills moved in next door to the sisters and spent the next eighteen months there, sharing their lives as they slowly revealed their life stories and their love of literature and the South.
