As a child, Harper Lee was "a rough 'n' tough tomboy.... She had short, cropped hair, wore coveralls, went barefoot, and could talk mean like a boy," according to Marianne M. Moates in A Bridge of Childhood: Truman Capote's Southern Years. Known as Nelle to her family and friends in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, Lee lived next door to the Faulks--spinster sisters Jenny, Sook, and Callie, and brother Bud; writer Truman Capote lived with the Faulks for several childhood summers, as well (and may have been the model for Dill, Scout and Jem's "summer" friend). In many ways, Moates's description of young Lee mirrors that of Scout in the author's only completed novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The striking similarities between Lee and her fictional counterpart are also reflected in the parallels between the fictional setting of the novel and Lee's hometown. At times, Lee's use of autobiographical elements gave rise to controversy.
