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To Kill a Mockingbird

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

'ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN NOVELS EVER WRITTEN'

'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man falsely charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story, an anti-racist novel, a historical drama of the Great Depression and a sublime example of the Southern writing tradition.

 Classics Coming of Age Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction United States Women's Voices World Literature Thought-Provoking Heartfelt

Critic reviews

No one ever forgets this book
Someone rare has written this very fine novel, a writer with the liveliest sense of life and the warmest, most authentic humor. A touching book; and so funny, so likeable (Truman Capote)
There is humour as well as tragedy in this book, besides its faint note of hope for human nature; and it is delightfully written in the now familiar Southern tradition
It would be difficult to argue that Harper Lee’s classic isn’t one of the most—if not the most—beloved of American novels
The enduring appeal of Mockingbird lies not only in the plot or characters; the book is a mirror, a source of endless and revelatory conversation about who we are and have been as a country
The names Scout and Atticus—and, perhaps above all, the name Harper—reflect a respect not just for the arc of history, but for the hope that it does indeed bend toward justice
Novels like To Kill a Mockingbird enlarge the heart and inspire the mind. They have the power to uplift readers and enrich them — no matter where those readers live or how they worship or the color of their skin
A first novel of such rare excellence
The rare classic that speaks to all ages about the less triumphant aspects of American history
A seminal American story, a touchstone of racial tolerance. . . . The book is a marvel, brilliantly structured, wonderfully told in the voice of Scout Finch, a stand-in for its tomboyish author as a child. . . . It’s a book determined to make young readers feel like grownups. . . and grownups feel like children
All stars
Most relevant
I just love this book so much! Harper Lee was a really amazing writer, completely worth the listen or read

Content

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Loved the book and the characters. I had separation pangs when I finished the book thinking I will never know how Scout and Jem grow up. Unfortunately, the questions raised on race relationships are still as relevant as they were then. Sissy did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life. A must read/ hear

One to cherish

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One of the best stories ever written and whose themes are as relevant as ever. Told from the perspective of Scout a young girl just starting school whose child like innocence reveals a vivid world of characters and life in Maycombe county in the 1930’s. What initially seems idyllic slowly reveals deeply seated racial prejudices that lead to a tragic miscarriage of justice. Scout’s life revolves around spending time with her older brother Jem and their Father Atticus Finch. Atticus has to be one of the best depictions of a decent and loving father (and lawyer) and provides the moral centre of a story helping Scout and Jem navigate the prejudices they see without ever losing a sense of hope. This is a story everyone should read or listen to. Sissy Spacek does a masterful reading vividly bringing the characters and the world of To Kill A Mocking Bird alive - unmissable and unforgettable.

Timeless Classic - if you love this book you will love this audio version.

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Huge fan of the film but never managed to get through the book.
This is a perfect way to lose yourself, read exquisitely by Sissy!, can't recommend it enough.

Magical

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Brilliant. I sent a copy to my 12 year old granddaughter. Wish I'd been able to read it at her age.

Reading this for the first time at 70 years old.

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