To Kill a Mockingbird

By: Harper Lee

Narrated by: Sissy Spacek

Brought to you by Penguin.

'ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN NOVELS EVER WRITTEN'

'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 falsely charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour 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.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story, an anti-racist novel, a historical drama of the Great Depression and a sublime example of the Southern writing tradition.

Critic reviews

No one ever forgets this book

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

There is humour as well as tragedy in this book, besides its faint note of hope for human nature; and it is delightfully written in the now familiar Southern tradition

It would be difficult to argue that Harper Lee’s classic isn’t one of the most—if not the most—beloved of American novels

The enduring appeal of Mockingbird lies not only in the plot or characters; the book is a mirror, a source of endless and revelatory conversation about who we are and have been as a country

The names Scout and Atticus—and, perhaps above all, the name Harper—reflect a respect not just for the arc of history, but for the hope that it does indeed bend toward justice

Novels like To Kill a Mockingbird enlarge the heart and inspire the mind. They have the power to uplift readers and enrich them — no matter where those readers live or how they worship or the color of their skin

A first novel of such rare excellence

The rare classic that speaks to all ages about the less triumphant aspects of American history

A seminal American story, a touchstone of racial tolerance. . . . The book is a marvel, brilliantly structured, wonderfully told in the voice of Scout Finch, a stand-in for its tomboyish author as a child. . . . It’s a book determined to make young readers feel like grownups. . . and grownups feel like children

Revived beautifully

It was a struggle to start, but as the pieces starting fitting together, I couldn't stop. I loved it.

The way sissy read it made me laugh and cry and sit at the edge of my seat. Stopping what I was doing and listening. The characters have been reawakened, and my day better for it.

Jaw dropping

Quite an interesting performance. The narrator was spot on and she had a way of making you visualise what she was saying. Everything from her accent to the enunciation was well suited for this book. I understand why this is a timeless classic and this Audible rendition did this book justice!

Fantastic Narrator.

I didnt like the story much. but the way its written, the narrative is deeply creative. Good read. but I spent much time with lots of expectations due to the awards etc. i found it to be okay...

Sissy brings the words to life

This classic book with its beautiful prose and profound subject matter is one that you just can't stop reading. Sissy Spacek is perfect as the narrator and provides the nuances required to deliver this book as it was imagined. I will listen to this again to hear the prose and her voice again

A classic...

Books like these change something within you..in a good way...The narrator was awesome especially Jean Louis voice was awesome...