About Tru:
- Truman Capote was born on 30 September 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, originally named Truman Streckfus Persons. He changed his name to Truman Garcia Capote in 1935 – from his stepfather, Joseph Capote, a Cuban-born New York businessman.
- Capote’s parents divorced when he was very young, and he was subsequently primarily raised by his mother’s relatives in Monroeville, Alabama. He formed a special bond with his distant relative, Nanny Rumbley Faulk – ‘Sook’.
- Truman Capote’s best friend in Monroeville was the girl-next-door, Nelle Harper Lee, who later based the precocious character of Dill Harris on Capote in her famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Similarly, Capote also used Harper Lee as an inspiration for the character Idabel Tompkins in his debut novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms.
- Truman was classified as a “lonely child,” and before he even entered formal schooling, he used that loneliness (along with his obvious smarts) to teach himself how to read and write. By 11, he was already writing his first short stories.
About Nelle:
- Harper Lee was born Nelle Harper Lee. Her first name is a backwards spelling of her grandmother’s name—Ellen. When pursuing her writing career, Lee dropped her first name because she didn’t want people misprinting or mispronouncing it as “Nellie.”
- She did not seem to have many companions during her childhood except her neighbor and friend Truman Capote.
- Lee met Truman Capote when they were both around five years old, and she was his protector from neighborhood bullies for much of their early years.
- Lee’s mother probably had some psychological ailments and this left a profound impact on her. Truman also faced domestic problems and the two found an outlet in each other to pour out these grievances which later came out through their writings.
- The plot and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family and neighbors in Monroeville, Alabama, as well as a childhood event that occurred near her hometown in 1936. The novel deals with racist attitudes, the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s, as depicted through the eyes of two children.
- Her father was a former newspaper editor, businessman, and lawyer, who also served in the Alabama State Legislature from 1926 to 1938. ... Before A.C. Lee became a title lawyer, he once defended two black men accused of murdering a white storekeeper. Both clients, a father and son, were hanged.
G. Neri skillfully weaves all of these facts into a brilliant story for readers aged 11+. I do need to give a warning - there are two very confronting scenes from Chapter 24 through to Chapter 26 - one involving the Klu Klux Clan and the suggestion of a lynching and the other is a dreadful staged fight between two enormous snakes where men bet on the outcome. Read this sentence - king = snake, moccasin = snake, green backs = money, hood = the Clan.
"Meet me this afternoon at the snake pit ... Indian Joe done got a king and a moccasin goin'. We gonna make enough green backs to cover my hooch costs. And bring my hood, boy. We got fireworks tonight."
Listen to an audio sample and here is the publisher blurb: Long before they became famous writers, Truman Capote (In Cold Blood) and Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird) were childhood friends in Monroeville, Alabama. This fictionalized account of their time together opens at the beginning of the Great Depression, when Tru is seven and Nelle is six. They love playing pirates, but they like playing Sherlock and Watson-style detectives even more. It’s their pursuit of a case of drugstore theft that lands the daring duo in real trouble. Humor and heartache intermingle in this lively look at two budding writers in the 1930s South.
Every time I go to our local charity Lifeline Book fair I seem to pick up a truly surprising book. How did this book published in the US in 2016 end up in a book fair in Sydney, Australia? There is a clue on the back cover. This book was purchased from an Australian independent book seller (now closed) for $25. It was added to their shop shelves in November 2016. Who purchased this book? There is a clue inside the front cover. Very very childish writing says "This book belongs to Leda". If the writing matches the age of this child then I am certain Leda did not read this book - so of course it is in mint condition with the dust jacket intact. On the final day of the fair every book is half price if you spend over $30 so I picked up this book for $1.50 - amazing. You can read more plot details here.
Betsy Bird shares two videos made by G (Greg) Neri about Monroeville and his book. These will give you a fabulous insight into the background to this book.
Here are a couple of text quotes to give the flavour of the writing:
"They decided to pay a social call on Mr Yarborough (owner of the drugstore) to straighten out the facts. The plan was to just sit there and chat away, enjoying an ice cold Catawba Flip or a fluffy Cherry Dope at the soda fountain. Then using their wiles and charms, they'd get Mr Yarborough to reveal some crucial bits of information which would solve the case."
"Because it was Halloween, the Boular house reminded Nelle even more of an old graveyard. Surrounded by spooky trees and a rusty bent fence, the house was built of dark wood and was rumored to be haunted. It was foreboding and sagged in the middle like it was on its last legs. The yard was an overgrown tangle of scuppernong arbors and wild pecan trees. If you hit a ball into ol' man Boular's yard and he was home, you could consider that ball lost forever."
Many readers are given To Kill a Mockingbird as a High School text. Tru and Nelle could be an interesting way to explore the background to that famous book. Take a look at this page on the author website. Here is the sequel to Tru and Nelle which I plan to read as a ebook:
Companion reads:
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