A 1930s Alabama Rape Trial and "To Kill a Mockingbird"

A newly published book makes the case (pun intended) for a link between a real life trial and Harper Lee's famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Joseph Madison Beck's My Father and Atticus Finch (Norton, 2016) retells the story of a 1930s  Alabama rape trial in which Mr. Beck's father defended a black man against rape charges. It also explores pre-civil rights era race relations in the South, and the image of Southern lawyers.


Additional information, including an interview with the author, here.  Via Allen Mendenhall @allenmendenhall.