NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This “superbly written true-crime story” (The New York Times Book Review) masterfully brings together the tales of a serial killer in 1970s Alabama and of Harper Lee, the beloved author of To Kill a Mockingbird, who tried to write his story.
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members, but with the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative assassinated him at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell’s murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend himself. Sitting in the audience during the vigilante’s trial was Harper Lee, who spent a year in town reporting on the Maxwell case and many more trying to finish the book she called The Reverend.
Cep brings this remarkable story to life, from the horrifying murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South, while offering a deeply moving portrait of one of our most revered writers.
I didn't read To Kill a Mockingbird until my early 40's. At the time, I was well aware that Harper Lee didn't publish anything else, and of course I'm aware of the brouhaha around the publication of her second book (actually the first she had written). But the idea that she was thinking of writing a true crime novel? Kind of fascinating. And so is this book. I picked it up just to read the first couple of chapters so I can discuss with customers, and...well...here I am finishing it.
The book is divided into two parts, really. The first is that of the alleged serial killer that Lee was interested in. And boy, is that bit crazy. And absolutely fascinating. The second half discusses more about Lee's life, gets into the trips she made to research the true crime book, and then goes basically until she passes away. I feel like a lot of that may already be common knowledge, but the author does write from the viewpoint of trying to ascertain why this book Lee was so excited about, this true crime story she researched so thoroughly, never went anywhere.
Overall, it's quite an interesting look at both an author who became a recluse, and the story she never ended up finishing.
