Harper Lee denies involvement with biography

Harper Lee has denied claims that she collaborated with the author of a forthcoming book about her life.

The To Kill a Mockingbird author issued a statement through her sister's law firm stating that she had nothing to do with Marja Mills' book, reports the New York Times.

'Contrary to recent news reports, I have not willingly participated in any book written or to be written by Marja Mills. Neither have I authorised such a book,' it read.

However, Ms Mills' literary agent Miriam Altshuler has said her client has the written support of Lee's sister Alice and the verbal support of the writer herself, given prior to her stroke in 2007.

Lee is famously reluctant to speak to the media, and has not given a public interview for years.

Ms Mills previously published a piece about Lee in the Chicago Tribune, in which she said she had conducted 'rare interviews with Harper Lee's older sister, Alice Finch Lee, and some of Harper Lee's close friends' which gave her 'unprecedented access' to the author's life.

The biography The Mockingbird Next Door is said to cover all aspects of Lee's life and explore why she never wrote a second book.