"To Kill a Mockingbird" will not be Harper Lee's only published book after all.
Publisher Harper announced Tuesday that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel the Pulitzer Prize-winning author completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. Rediscovered last fall, "Go Set a Watchman" is essentially a sequel to "To Kill a Mockingbird," although it was finished earlier. The 304-page book will be Lee's second, and the first new work in more than 50 years.
The publisher plans a first printing of 2 million copies.
"In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called 'Go Set a Watchman,'" the 88-year-old Lee said in a statement issued by Harper. "It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became 'To Kill a Mockingbird') from the point of view of the young Scout.
"I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn't realized it (the original book) had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years."
Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal was negotiated between Carter and the head of Harper's parent company, Michael Morrison of HarperCollins Publishers. "Watchman" will be published in the United Kingdom by William Heinemann, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
According to publisher Harper, Carter came upon the manuscript at a "secure location where it had been affixed to an original typescript of 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'" The new book is set in Lee's famed Maycomb, Alabama, during the mid-1950s, 20 years after "To Kill a Mockingbird" and roughly contemporaneous with the time that Lee was writing the story. The civil rights movement was taking hold by the time she was working on "Watchman." The Supreme Court had ruled unanimously in 1953 that segregated schools were unconstitutional, and the arrest of Rosa Parks in 1955 led to the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott.
"Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father, Atticus," the publisher's announcement reads. "She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father's attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood."
Lee herself is a Monroeville, Alabama native who lived in New York in the 1950s. She now lives in her hometown. According to the publisher, the book will be released as she first wrote it, with no revisions.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is among the most beloved novels in history, with worldwide sales topping 40 million copies. It was released on July 11, 1960, won the Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into a 1962 movie of the same name, starring Gregory Peck in an Oscar-winning performance as the courageous attorney Atticus Finch. Although occasionally banned over the years because of its language and racial themes, the novel has become a standard for reading clubs and middle schools and high schools. The absence of a second book from Lee only seemed to enhance the appeal of "Mockingbird."
Wow, and not only is it a "new" book, but they are publishing it just as she wrote it in 1950s. It will be interesting to read it with that in mind.
Right? It will be uncolored by the years and what happened since. I think it is interesting that this was actually written before To Kill a Mockingbird. I wonder if it's the book she meant to write and then changed it to To Kill a Mockingbird to turn it into a coming of age story.
Eta: it will be authentic Lee, not Lee trying to recapture old magic.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mean TKAM is probably the best book in the whole wide world. Is it even possible for another book to be close to as good? I feel like I'm going to be disappointed.
I just read an article that is feeling some kind of way about all this. Apparently Harper Lee never wanted this to see the light of day. Her sister protected that wish even while Harper Lee apparently slipped into senility. And now three months after Alice Lee's death, here comes the book.
I just read an article that is feeling some kind of way about all this. Apparently Harper Lee never wanted this to see the light of day. Her sister protected that wish even while Harper Lee apparently slipped into senility. And now three months after Alice Lee's death, here comes the book.
And now I can't find the article.
Yes, the link I posted was a story about the crazy back and forth for her unauthorized biography and it definitely sounds like she wasn't doing well at the time. So the statement from the publisher that is supposedly in her words about how happy she is that this book was discovered and will be printed leaves me dubious.
Right? It will be uncolored by the years and what happened since. I think it is interesting that this was actually written before To Kill a Mockingbird. I wonder if it's the book she meant to write and then changed it to To Kill a Mockingbird to turn it into a coming of age story.
Eta: it will be authentic Lee, not Lee trying to recapture old magic.
The article I read about it said the publisher liked the flashbacks contained in the book and suggested she run with those and that became TKAMB.
yeah, this article says that too. I just mean, she never meant to write TKM-- she meant to write this one and transformed it.
Yes, the link I posted was a story about the crazy back and forth for her unauthorized biography and it definitely sounds like she wasn't doing well at the time. So the statement from the publisher that is supposedly in her words about how happy she is that this book was discovered and will be printed leaves me dubious.
Ohhh... Now I don't like THIS at all.
Neither do I. I think it's clear that if she ever wanted that book published, it would have been. So the statement released about how she's glad this has been found and will get an audience makes no fucking sense.
I just read an article that is feeling some kind of way about all this. Apparently Harper Lee never wanted this to see the light of day. Her sister protected that wish even while Harper Lee apparently slipped into senility. And now three months after Alice Lee's death, here comes the book.
And now I can't find the article.
Yes, the link I posted was a story about the crazy back and forth for her unauthorized biography and it definitely sounds like she wasn't doing well at the time. So the statement from the publisher that is supposedly in her words about how happy she is that this book was discovered and will be printed leaves me dubious.
Well that is upsetting.
I'm not sure how I feel about another book. TKAMB is my all time favorite book (and I am an avid reader), so I am excited to read another Lee book. On the other hand, if it isn't good, I am going to be soooo disappointed.
Neither do I. I think it's clear that if she ever wanted that book published, it would have been. So the statement released about how she's glad this has been found and will get an audience makes no fucking sense.
That is odd. I don't know if she never wanted it published or if she thought it was crap b/c the first publisher said so and steered her toward rewriting it into To Kill A Mockingbird and thought it was lost anyway - weird that is was just "found," huh? I just hope she doesn't feel violated and really does want the book published.
Neither do I. I think it's clear that if she ever wanted that book published, it would have been. So the statement released about how she's glad this has been found and will get an audience makes no fucking sense.
That is odd. I don't know if she never wanted it published or if she thought it was crap b/c the first publisher said so and steered her toward rewriting it into To Kill A Mockingbird and thought it was lost anyway - weird that is was just "found," huh? I just hope she doesn't feel violated and really does want the book published.
If TKAMB wasn't Harper Lee's only published book, I'd take the first option. But she was pretty much a recluse. I'm voting for part two.
That is odd. I don't know if she never wanted it published or if she thought it was crap b/c the first publisher said so and steered her toward rewriting it into To Kill A Mockingbird and thought it was lost anyway - weird that is was just "found," huh? I just hope she doesn't feel violated and really does want the book published.
If TKAMB wasn't Harper Lee's only published book, I'd take the first option. But she was pretty much a recluse. I'm voting for part two.
I should not have come back in this thread b/c now I've been reading interviews and articles about her and even her sister, Alice, who just passed away was originally pissed at her for writing To Kill A Mockingbird and they had a long falling out about her leaving for NY and drinking and hanging with the writers she did for years. Hmmm... I mean, family and all can be complicated, but this is all just weird.
I'm not sure this isn't a money grab by people who don't have her best interests at heart.
ETA: I found this article via twitter, so it's not an original thought but after reading the article I don't feel great about her "new" book.
well, I read this at the time of publication (and the book in question). And if anything, the lawyer Carter [mentioned in my article as the person who re-discovered the manuscript] was hyperprotective of Lee's name and interests in the Mills situation. She was hand-picked by Alice Lee to manage Lee's affairs. Between her handling of the Mills situation and her involvement with Alice Lee, I am inclined to believe it is honest.
Harper Lee also turned around a bit more this past year-- when she released e-text and audio writes to Mockingbird. She said that it could bring MB to a new generation. Her enthusiasm about it also makes me think this is a legit, Lee-approved release.
I think she will let people know if she's unhappy with it!
I'm so conflicted. I re-read TKAM a couple of years ago (first re-read since high school) and it was such a phenomenal story. I really really want to read her "new" book. But I am really sad that she might be being exploited. Help!