★★★★★ TW this review mentions r*pe.
To Kill a Mockingbird, written in 1960 by Harper Lee follows Scout, a young girl who lives in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama. We follow the lives of six-year-old Scout, her older brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus, a lawyer. The plot of the book works its way from Scout, Jem and their friend Dill’s fascination with Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley, the towns recluse, to the alleged rape of a white woman, Mayella Ewell by the “coloured” man Tom Robinson. This book is a powerful discussion of discrimination and racial inequality, but it’s swathed in the warmth and comfort of the point of view of a young girl who doesn’t quite understand everything that happens around her. This coming of age story is an easy read, yet imbued with deeper importance.
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
This book is such a comfort read for me, and honestly, comfort is what I wanted and needed when I picked this up again. Perhaps the fourth reading of this book, it has such a nostalgia to it that I have to be honest, my thoughts and feelings about this book are deeply embedded in my nostalgic comfort I get from this book. Scout (Jean-Louise) Finch is such a wonderful point of view to read from, she brings an innocence and a completely unbiased view of the world to the reader, which makes this book an easy read, despite the seriousness of its content.
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.
I find it hard to write reviews for books I’ve re-read. My thoughts and feelings are ones that have been developed over years, and having read this as a young teenager, again as an older teenager and again now, there’s a lot of history between me and this book. Things that I still think, years after my first read - I love Atticus, he is a wonderful role model for his kids and honestly, he is one of my favourite literary characters. I still find it so strange that his kids call him ‘Atticus’ and ‘sir.’ I couldn’t imagine calling my dad anything other than Dad.
“I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.”
I loved re-reading this book and chatting to the lovely Myrthe at @sunflowerwinters, and honestly, picking this book up again was like claiming into a cosy blanket. Do you have any books that are your ultimate comfort read? Let me know in the comments, or find me over on Instagram @kell_read! ✨