She felt sick. Her stomach shut, she began to tremble...Every nerve in her body shrieked, then died. 
 Scout is 26 and calls NYC home. During this visit to her childhood home of Maycomb, her world is turned upside down when she witnesses Atticus (her dad) and her boyfriend sitting in a council meeting of anti-segregationists, some who are white supremacists. Outside the courthouse, Maycomb suddenly looks hostile and uninviting to Scout. Go away, the old building said. There is no place for you here. 
 I've seen so much discussion/write-ups and opinions pieces on this book, which is a big deal because Harper Lee until now had only published that "one perfect book." I was excited when I heard about a second novel to be published by this literary master, and with Scout as a young woman? Yes please. 
 But some people were mad that Atticus's bigotry is revealed: How can it be? He was in the KKK? (Calm down people. He went to one meeting when he was young and then never again.) He was a product of his times. One opinion piece said the names should've been changed, essentially producing different characters than the beloved Finchs that America knows. That would be ludicrous. Lee makes us think about hard questions. Nothing is black and white in Go Set A Watchman. Even Scout; she seems ideally progressive for most of the book but then she cusses out her old man brutally before considers that she may be just as uncompromising in her beliefs as well. She considers this after her uncle (Dr. Jack Finch) backhands her and then makes her take a shot of whiskey. 
 This was written in the 50's and so is authentic in its portrayal of an Alabama town dealing with progressivity. If Atticus is beloved to you as the hero of "To Kill A Mockingbird," then you will understand how Scout feels: It could be, might be, still was, a horrible mistake. Her mind refused to register what her eyes and ears told it...She sat staring at a pool of melted vanilla ice cream working its way slowly to the edge...Something's wrong with me...It has to be because all these people cannot have changed... Adding to the heart-break is that Calpurnia seems to have turned against her. 
 This book is beautifully written. It has the seriousness of the civil rights issues balanced with light-hearted flash-backs to Scout and Jem and Dill as children, which are delightful. I also loved Scout dealing with her choice of whether to marry Henry, her long-time friend who has been taken under Atticus's wing. The only thing that didn't resolve for me is that she didn't reconcile with Calpurnia; it's sad that Cal became hard-hearted. But that's the hard reality. Life is not like Miss Maudie's perfect garden of azaleas. The best we can do is examine our beliefs and try to live by them, our conscience as our watchman.