Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus—three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up. Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well—in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind when you really see them. By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often. Harper Lee’s novel, published in 1960, has been the centre of controversy again of late, with the question of its appearance on UK schools’ reading lists. For me, it’s no surprise that it’s one of the most studied books in the canon - it’s a classic of American literature, a powerful meditation on prejudice and intolerance which is also a complex and highly skilled exploration of character, social standing and class. At its centre, it’s a novel about tolerance and acceptance. Set in fictional Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s at a time of unrest – the town is divided by race and class – the narrative is told through the eyes of Scout, a young girl whose father, Atticus, has been employed to defend a black man convicted of the rape of a young white woman. It’s a case that shocks and divides the town – many are appalled that Atticus would concede to defend him. But he represents bravery and measured consideration – Atticus stands as the moral compass at the centre of the prose – and he feels no compromise in his decision. It’s a trial fraught with emotion, propelled along by rage: it becomes clear that the man is innocent, but despite the evidence that’s put forward, a jury convicts him. He loses his life during an attempt to escape. CCV: `I love