After all the hype and speculation about this “sequel” to To Kill a Mockingbird, I decided not to read it neither a sequel nor prequel, but as a standalone novel by a debut author. This freed me from making comparisons or having any expectations confirmed or crushed by the work.This book is very much a literary piece, taking place over only a few days into Jean Louise’s (Scout’s) annual two-week visit to her hometown of Maycomb, Alabama. Currently twenty-six years old, she lives in New York City and returns each summer for two weeks to visit her family. Her father, Atticus, is getting old and has severe arthritis. His sister Alexandra lives with him and keeps house. Calpurnia, the African-American woman who had been the housekeeper when Scout was growing up had long ago retired. Atticus’s eccentric brother, a physician, also lives in Maycomb and has spent so much time reading Victorian literature, he appears to have lost touch with reality and what century he lives in. She also has a love interest, Henry, her father’s young law partner, who seems to be waiting for her to return and marry him.
The first third of the book provides her reflections on her life growing up in the small Alabama town, her relationship with her father and others in her life, and her assessment of race relationships in the South. At the third-way mark, she is confronted with an event that shakes her belief system to her very core, and the rest of the book involves her coming to terms with this reality.
