The literary world has been abuzz with the news that Harper Lee, the author behind the sensational To Kill A Mockingbird, is back with another novel. Fifty years later, the 88-year-old Pulitzer-Prize-winning author is releasing a book titled Go Set A Watchman.
While it will read like a sequel to Mockingbird, telling the story of its famous childhood characters in their later adult years, it was actually written first.
Lee explained in a statement that in the mid-1950s she wrote Watchman, a story about a woman named Scout and her father, Atticus, set in a small town in Alabama during the racially tense times of the ‘50s. Afterwards, her editor persuaded her to write a novel from Scout’s perspective as a child, which she titled To Kill A Mockingbird.
“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,” said Lee. “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.”
Whether your memories of Harper Lee’s famous story come from your high school English class, or from watching the dashing Gregory Peck play Atticus in the 1962 film rendition, we’re sure this book will be one of the most sought-after summer reads.