Harper Lee, by Alexis Burling, a biography that is part of the Essential Lives Series, succinctly details the highlights and controversies that surround one of literature’s best-love, yet little known writers.  Nelle Harper Lee’s first novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, was a literary sensation from the moment of publication, garnering the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1961.  The immediate acclaim for the book and the huge success of the movie put Lee in an unwanted spotlight.  Being essentially a very private person, Lee stopped granting interviews and became very wary of the intent of strangers.  The biography addresses the questions and speculations about Harper Lee and her status in American literature.  Side bars, photos and interviews highlight specific details about her life including speculations about the authorship of Mockingbird as well as legal battles concerning royalties.  It also discussed is the current  controversy about the publication of her “lost” novel,  Go Set the Watchman , in May of 2015. Source notes by chapter facilitate further research.  In a brief 106 pages, this is an excellent non-fiction book about the author of an iconic American novel.