Set in Depression-era Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is the coming of age story of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the daughter of Atticus, a lawyer who, despite threats to himself and his family, defends a black man accused of assaulting a white woman. The narrator of the story, a grown-up Scout, looks back at her childhood, delivering a powerful message about prejudice, injustice, and humanity.