Tobacco Sticks is really about a south that no longer exists and a way of living that vanished probably a few years after World War II ended. The family in the book is a large respected clan headed by the patriarch who is the hope and the catalyst for the family's ultimate dissolution. A lawyer's tale told by a twelve year old, this novel will bring up memories of To Kill A Mockingbird, but I like to think that while Scout's story told of the South between the wars, my story finishes up with the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. There is a political campaign and an African American Maid wrongly accused of crimes that could destroy her and there are the changing tides of Southern tradition bashing against the shoals of a looming Civil Rights Movement. Ultimately, there is the love between a father and a son and a courtroom trial that shows that while right may not triumph, it is really the only thing that will outlive the very short time we have in this world.