1930, in a small town in the state of Alabama in the southern United States, Jem and Scout Finch live with father Atticus leut the only student from the death of his wife. Alabama is a poor state, still marked by the Civil War. Racial segregation is established in the laws of the state and lorsqu'Atticus defends Tom, a black, was sentenced to death for the rape of a white woman it's all Finch family that lives to the rhythm of events but also a whole city: black / white, for / against the death penalty, rich / poor, young / old, racist or not ... Two opposing clans and the whole history of the southern United States resurfaced in the court but is it to go back or skip ahead to the future?
I had a lot of fun reading this book even if the first pages left me dubious. I would compare the pace of the story to the gait of the horse: not the first (author sets the scene bous and feel the sun on our heads, dust sticking to our skin), then trotting history Tom is planted, (the trial will start) and then the gallop (the reader is carried away by both the family history of Finch and the Tom and pages scroll at any speed!) The author managed to take us in Alabama 30s however I would have appreciated it focuses more on Tom's case, his impressions of him, his life, who he is ...
