'Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird.'Lawyer Atticus Finch gives this advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.

ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN NOVELS EVER WRITTEN

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION

'No one forgets this book' Independent
'One of the best first novels I remember ... uniquely unsentimental' Guardian
'There is humour as well as tragedy in this book, besides its faint note of hope for human nature; and it is delightfully written' Sunday Times
'A rare literary phenomenon' Vogue

'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 charged with a serious crime.

Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores 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.

'Someone rare has written this very fine novel, a writer with the liveliest sense of life and the warmest, most authentic humour. A touching book; and so funny, so likeable.' Truman Capote