<Tr> <Th> Publisher </Th> <Td> J.B. Lippincott & Co . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Pages </Th> <Td> 281 </Td> </Tr> <P> To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960 . It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature . The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was 10 years old . The story is told by the six - year - old Jean Louise Finch . </P> <P> The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality . The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers . One critic explains the novel's impact by writing, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism ." </P>

When did the book to kill a mockingbird take place