Summary

Nelle moved to Manhattan when she was 23 years old. When she arrived, Truman arranged for his friend, Michael Brown, to look after her. Brown and Lee shared a similar upbringing and the two were “instant friends” (165). Nelly found a day job as a ticket agent, and moved into an apartment on the Upper East Side. Leading a completely different life from her was Truman who was writing full time and whose “stories seemed to move effortlessly from his mind to…the shelves of bookstores” (167).

After almost two years in New York, Nelle returned to Monroeville as her mom was diagnosed with cancer. The loss was “tremendous,” as their mother offered, what Cep referred to as “permission to be who they were” (168). Right afterwards, however, Nelle received a call in New York telling her that her brother had died...