The book presents a view of a time in history on the cusp of change in people's attitudes toward race relations--the deep South in the Depression when people were struggling to live on dwindling resources while maintaining their old social strata. Knowing that times would never be the same, most citizens weren't quite ready to acknowledge that by extending legal rights to African Americans; it takes an Atticus Finch to be their guide. The story is narrated by Scout Finch who sees her father's legal defense of an innocent African American man through an eight-year-old's eyes while learning some of life's lessons on the way.
Harper Lee's knowledge and understanding of the times, the place, and its people allow her to write a compassionate and insightful book that can inform us all.