Harper Lee is set to publish only her second novel, 55 years after publishing the classic To Kill A Mockingbird.
To Kill A Mockingbird was a groundbreaking work of fiction when it was published in 1960, garnering Lee a Pulitzer Prize. The story, surrounding race elations in a fictional Alabama town, was turned into a 1962 film that won three Academy Awards, one for actor Gregory Peck. Lee never published another work after To Kill A Mockingbird, until now.
Harper Lee’s second novel, titled Go Set A Watchman, is a sequel to Mockingbird which Lee actually completed in the 1950s before setting it aside to write her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Go Set A Watchmen will focus on an adult Scout Finch, who plays a child in the original book. Where Mockingbird takes place during the Great Depression, Go Set A Watchmen will focus on Scout Finch returning to Alabama from New York in the 50s to visit her father, Atticus Finch. The announcement from the publishing company gives some details of the new novel:
“She [Scout] 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, who is 88-years old now, released a statement on her second novel:
“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.”
Harper Lee will release her second novel, Go Set A Watchman, on July 14 this year.