To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. The plot and characters are loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors and is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. [source]
The Southern Gothic style is one that employs the use of macabre, ironic events to examine the values of the American South. Unlike its parent genre, it uses the Gothic tools not solely for the sake of suspense, but to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South – Gothic elements often taking place in a magic realist context rather than a strictly fantastical one. [source]
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
Atticus Finch, Chapter 3
Nelle Harper Lee is an American novelist widely known for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. [source]