Finally, it seemed, one of the most enduring literary mysteries would be solved. At last, we would discover why Harper Lee had not written another book since 1960's To Kill a Mockingbird, and what had made her become one of literature's greatest recluses.
Penguin Press announced this week that it had bought the former Chicago Tribune journalist Marja Mills's memoir The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee. The book would tell of the Lee sisters' lives in Alabama, how the staggering success of To Kill a Mockingbird affected their lives and, as the press release intriguingly put it, "why Harper Lee chose to never write another novel".
But the most exciting news was that the book, currently without a publication date, was "written with direct access to Harper and Alice Lee and their friends and family". The literati licked their lips. Perhaps it would confirm that Lee was crippled by writer's block. Maybe – as one cruel rumour once scurrilously put it – she would reveal that her best friend Truman Capote had actually written To Kill a Mockingbird.
Or maybe, indeed, it would suggest that she just couldn't be bothered trying to improve on perfection. After all, a 2002 interview Mills had with her sister for the Chicago Tribune did suggest there might be something in that theory. "I'll put it this way," she said. "When you have hit the pinnacle, how would you feel about writing more? Would you feel like you're competing with yourself?"
But as always, where Harper Lee’s much-prized privacy is concerned, there was a problem. Lee, it seemed, had not had an audience with Mills at all, and she was not slow to tell the world just that. “Contrary to recent news reports, I have not willingly participated in any book written or to be written by Marja Mills,” Lee wrote in a statement published by her lawyers on Wednesday. “Neither have I authorised such a book. Any claims otherwise are false.”
And, from someone who hasn't granted an interview since 1964 – "it's better to be silent than be a fool", she once said at a low-key Alabama awards ceremony – that was quite a verbose statement. It wasn't the end of the affair, though. On Friday, Mills told The New York Times that she had a document signed by Alice Lee "affirming she and her sister, Nelle Harper Lee, cooperated with the project".
Whatever the truth of the matter, the reason we’re fascinated by Harper Lee is not just that she keeps her counsel. It’s that such a talent never managed to follow up the Pulitzer Prize-winning chronicle of racial tensions in the American South.
She tried – The Long Goodbye was started and abandoned in the mid-1960s – and she certainly suggested, back in the days when she was just a little more talkative, that she wasn't intending to be a one-hit wonder. "I want to do the best I can with the talent God gave me," she said to Roy Newquist for his 1964 book of interviews, Counterpoint, before adding: "I hope to goodness that every novel I do gets better and better… all I want to be is the Jane Austen of south Alabama."
Instead, she's become the JD Salinger of south Alabama – another, albeit slightly more productive, American author who wrote the hugely acclaimed novel The Catcher in the Rye before retreating into obstinate seclusion. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with producing a solitary classic novel and refusing to diminish its power and legacy with inferior follow-ups. Lee is in good company as far as that's concerned: ignore the novella she scribbled as a 15-year-old, and Margaret Mitchell wrote only the epic Gone With the Wind. Oscar Wilde wrote plays, poems and short stories but only one novel, the fascinating The Picture of Dorian Gray. Emily Brontë's sole contribution to fiction was Wuthering Heights and Boris Pasternak's Dr Zhivago remains his first and last book.
Granted, some of these authors' careers were cut short by death, but it's Margaret Mitchell's reaction to her bestseller that gives us a window into Lee's feelings about her life post-Mockingbird. Mitchell said she hated the fame her novel and the subsequent film brought her, and in that 1964 interview Lee likened the immediate success of her book to "being hit over the head and knocked out cold". She admitted that she wouldn't have minded some public praise, but "I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I'd expected".
So, like Salinger, Lee has become just as famous for her much-documented silence as her novel. The book, of course, will last: but it’ll be a real shame if we only really find out what really drove this brilliant writer once she’s dead.
Follow us on Twitter and keep up to date with the latest in arts and lifestyle news at twitter.com/LifeNationalUAE
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Results
Stage 4
1. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jumbo-Visma 04:16:13
2. Gaviria (COL) UAE Team Emirates
3. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe
4. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal
General Classification:
1. Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 16:46:15
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:35
4. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5. Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Wimbledon order of play on Tuesday, July 11
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Centre Court
Adrian Mannarino v Novak Djokovic (2)
Venus Williams (10) v Jelena Ostapenko (13)
Johanna Konta (6) v Simona Halep (2)
Court 1
Garbine Muguruza (14) v
Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
Magdalena Rybarikova v Coco Vandeweghe (24)
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Match info:
Wolves 1
Boly (57')
Manchester City 1
Laporte (69')
ACC 2019: The winners in full
Best Actress Maha Alemi, Sofia
Best Actor Mohamed Dhrif, Weldi
Best Screenplay Meryem Benm’Barek, Sofia
Best Documentary Of Fathers and Sons by Talal Derki
Best Film Yomeddine by Abu Bakr Shawky
Best Director Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
Meydan Racecourse racecard:
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 | 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: The Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 1,600m
8.15pm: Maiden for 2-year-old colts (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,600m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 2,000m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,600m.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
