Why Harper Lee Struggled to Write Again After To Kill a Mockingbird

It was easy enough to forget about Harper Lee in those days. To Kill a Mockingbird had come out eighteen years before in 1960, and in all that time Lee had published almost nothing else. Three short essays for two glossy magazines, two tiny profiles that were favors for her friend Truman Capote, one satirical recipe for crackling bread in a novelty cookbook: in nearly two decades, that was the only writing she had put into the world.

It was easy enough to forget about Harper Lee in those days. To Kill a Mockingbird had come out eighteen years before in 1960, and in all that time Lee had published almost nothing else. Three short essays for two glossy magazines, two tiny profiles that were favors for her friend Truman Capote, one satirical recipe for crackling bread in a novelty cookbook: in nearly two decades, that was the only writing she had put into the world.