Harper Lee (1926–2016) was an American novelist best known for her classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), one of the most widely read and influential works of modern literature. She was born in Monroeville, a small Southern town that inspired the setting and characters of her fiction.

Lee studied law at the University of Alabama but left before completing her degree to pursue writing. Her debut novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was an immediate success, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and earning lasting acclaim for its powerful exploration of racial injustice, morality, and childhood in the American South.

After its success, Lee largely withdrew from public literary life and published very little. Decades later, Go Set a Watchman (2015) was released, offering an earlier version of her famous characters. Despite her limited output, Harper Lee remains one of the most important figures in American literature.