This novel was released to much fanfare, although also to criticism a number of years ago. It is written by the same author as “To Kill a Mocking Bird”, the Pullitzer winning masterpiece and is set about two decades later. That is how I came across it. The criticism was due to the fact that it was released based on manuscripts after the author’s death. She didn’t intend for it to be released.

I have yet the read the more famous novel, and that may help give me a different perspective. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—”Scout”—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Atticus is the lawyer who saved a black man in a rape trial twenty years earlier. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her.

The disturbing truth is just how racist they all are, even her beloved father, Atticus. This comes as a shock to her and leads her to question everything, leading to physical sickness at times. By the end of the novel they are all still racists, but she has come to accept that she can be a little bit less racist and still get along with them. A strange ending where what all she really needed was a good smack from her uncle to straighten her out or at times it definitely felt that way. Although, the novel’s explanation is some psycho babble about Daddy issues.

If you get triggered by racism, this novel is not for you especially the last 60 pages. But it’s really not for anyone at all. The plot is threadbare and the first hundred pages quite boring. I struggled to keep going. The writer though has good descriptive powers, but the story just felt aimless at times.

Also, the fact Jean Louise only now sees the racism lacks credulity. Like, she did grow up there! This novel gets a very disappointing two stars out of five for me. Do yourself a favour and give this a wide berth.

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