‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ author Harper Lee passes away at 89

To Kill A Mockingbird author Harper Lee has died aged 89.

The Mayor's Office of Monroeville, Alabama, confirmed the news today.

Publisher Penguin Random House also posted a message on Twitter saying "Rest in peace, Harper Lee."

Lee was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for To Kill A Mockingbird and it remained her only book until 2015.

Set in the Deep South in America during the 1930s, it details the life of tomboy Scout, real name Jean Louise Finch, and the events that unfold when her father, Atticus Finch, a Maycomb lawyer, is assigned to represent a local resident.

Born Nelle Harper Lee in 1926, she grew up in Monroeville, Alabama and was the youngest of four children.

Her father, Amasa Coleman Lee, was a lawyer and it is reported that her character of Atticus Finch was loosely based on him.

To Kill A Mockingbird went on to become a classic and, apart from the Pulitzer, she was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Lee was fiercely private and following the success of her book she rarely granted interviews.

Last year she released a statement announcing she would be publishing a follow-up for To Kill A Mockingbird, titled Go Set A Watchman. The book featured her beloved Mockingbird characters, with the main protagonist, Jean Louise Finch, now an adult.

The long-awaited follow-up sold more than 105,000 copies on its first day.

Lee suffered a stroke in 2007 and with the release of her book last year, concerns were raised about the extent of her involvement in the project.

At the time, her agent was forced to respond to reports suggesting the 88-year-old was being taken advantage of over the publication of the book.

Authorities in her native Alabama closed their investigation into the issue, saying the reclusive writer had "made it quite clear" she wanted the book published.