From Columbus, Georgia, Carson McCullers invented the term 'American loneliness' with her first novel 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter'. Just 23, she was part of a generation of enfants terribles from the South, hanging out with Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote.
Translated from the French, this biography by 'Le Monde' journalist Josyanne Savigneau puts forward polarising views of McCullers's personality, her illnesses, and her identity as an American outsider.
Savigneau's passionate style is a good match for her controversial subject.
