I am, I feel, one of the few people in the world who was not made to read this book whilst at school. For that I am infinitely grateful. Not because I didn't like it, quite to the contrary, I was absolutely entranced with this tale of prejudice, told through the eyes of a young Southern girl by the name of Scout Finch. Similarly I wanted nothing more than to be eight and go on adventures in the neighbourhood with Scout, her brother Jem and their summer friend Dill (based on Lee's lifelong friend Truman Capote). I wanted nothing more than for my Father to be the level headed, intelligent, incredibly moral Atticus Finch, who never treated his children with less than respect and always did the best he could.

However if I had read this at school would I have felt the same? Perhaps, perhaps not. It is no secret that many children have long lasting loathing for the set books they were forced to read in classrooms. I have an undying, underlying cautiousness towards poetry as a result of years of studying it against my will in G.C.S.E English. And To Kill a Mockingbird is something which should never be forced upon a person, as doing so violates the core principle of the book. Freedom is something which should not be given. It should simply be. Prejudice inhibits that; prejudice towards people because of their skin colour, their sex, their position in life. A school room prejudice against this book, because of when it was read, seems to be an amazing irony; in mind of the content.

I find it both sad and also strangely right that the total sum of Harper Lee's bibliography can be read by completing this one novel. What a novel to base your life on. It handles subjects with strength and an unflinching, typically straightforward, Southern gaze. Lee doesn't try to sympathise as such. She simply tries to see, through the innocent eyes of a child. Through that innocence what is visible is a truth which the time could not envisage. The characterisation is perfection; I care about each and every name I read, for better or worse. My dislike of Bob Ewell is as intense an emotion as my love for the Finches. There is also human ambiguity with all characters. Take, for example, Aunt Alexandra - both likeable and unlikeable at once; always attempting to change Scout and yet devoted to her nonetheless, and generally as goodhearted as she knows how to be.

This is a remarkable book, quite rightly listed above the Bible in many lists of 'Books to Read Before You Die' - there is a meditation on life here which puts the world of the time into stark contrast with modern views. What makes it more startling is that a great deal is autobiographical, a picture of Lee's life which no one but her could ever paint.

Perhaps Harper Lee never wrote another book because she didn't think she could write anything better. To my mind, I highly doubt anyone ever could. A must read.