Second Harper Lee Novel To Be Published in July 2015

[Linda Anderson]

"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."

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Secon...058891.php

[Anita]

Very exciting news Linda and an amazing story. I didn't realize Harper Lee is 88 and living in her home town in Alabama.

[Linda Anderson]

There is controversy regarding the publication of her new book. From today's New York Times:

"Some critics and observers were skeptical of Ms. Lee’s role in approving the deal. All of Harper’s communication with Ms. Lee about the new book came through her lawyer, Ms. Carter, and her literary agent, Andrew Nurnberg, including the statement she gave expressing her delight that the novel would finally be published, according to Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher of Harper...

"Ms. Lee suffered a stroke in 2007 and has been living in an assisted living facility. Her sister, Alice Lee, a lawyer who was her companion and her protector from the prying eyes of the public, died a few months ago...

"Ms. Lee has occasionally addressed the question of why she never published another book after “To Kill A Mockingbird.” She has said she found the publicity surrounding “To Kill a Mockingbird” overwhelming, and that she felt one novel was enough.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/books/...-news&_r=0

[Wesley Harris]

There is controversy regarding the publication of her new book. From today's New York Times:

"Some critics and observers were skeptical of Ms. Lee’s role in approving the deal. All of Harper’s communication with Ms. Lee about the new book came through her lawyer, Ms. Carter, and her literary agent, Andrew Nurnberg, including the statement she gave expressing her delight that the novel would finally be published, according to Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher of Harper...

"Ms. Lee suffered a stroke in 2007 and has been living in an assisted living facility. Her sister, Alice Lee, a lawyer who was her companion and her protector from the prying eyes of the public, died a few months ago...

"Ms. Lee has occasionally addressed the question of why she never published another book after “To Kill A Mockingbird.” She has said she found the publicity surrounding “To Kill a Mockingbird” overwhelming, and that she felt one novel was enough.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/books/...-news&_r=0

Wonder if there's any link between the unexpected appearance of this novel and the fact that a journalist moved in next door to Harper Lee for 18 months, publishing "The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee" late last year. Seems odd that a book about Lee and a book by Lee come out months apart after she hasn't published anything for 50 years.

I put "To Kill a Mockingbird" in my top five best novels ever.

[L Verge]

I heard one brief report on the D.C. area news that said Harper Lee did not even remember that she had written this novel. Someone had found it paper clipped to something else? I'm betting more will be revealed on this issue...

[Rsmyth]

I agree Wesley and rare, but the movie was also a classic!

[Linda Anderson]

The plot thickens, as my mother used to say.

"Harper Lee has issued a new statement expressing her happiness with the publication of her second novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” amid growing speculation that the fiercely private novelist may have been pressured into signing over publication rights for the book.

“'I’m alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions to ‘Watchman,’ ” Ms. Lee, 88, said in a statement that she is said to have given to her lawyer, Tonja Carter, on Wednesday when Ms. Carter visited her at an assisted-living facility in Monroeville, Ala."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/books/...pe=article

[Linda Anderson]

From today's NYT:

"Despite reassurances from her publisher, lawyer and literary agent that Ms. Lee has enthusiastically endorsed the publication, the controversy over the new book, “Go Set a Watchman,” has divided some residents of her hometown here, as well as longtime friends who live elsewhere. One faction argues that Ms. Lee’s mental health is too shaky for her to have knowingly authorized the new book, while the other just as vigorously affirms her competence.

"Now the State of Alabama has been drawn into the debate. Responding to at least one complaint of potential elder abuse related to the publication of “Watchman,” investigators interviewed Ms. Lee last month at the assisted living facility where she resides. They have also interviewed employees at the facility, called the Meadows, as well as several friends and acquaintances."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/arts/a...v=top-news

---

[Linda Anderson]

"An Alabama agency that had been helping with an investigation into whether Harper Lee, 88 and infirm, was manipulated into agreeing to publish a second novel this summer said on Thursday that it had ended its role in the inquiry...

"Investigators conducting the larger inquiry for the Alabama Department of Human Resources continued their work this week and on Wednesday spoke by phone with the Rev. Thomas Butts, who has known Ms. Lee for many years and had been the pastor of her church."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/busine...icle-click

[maharba]

What a great mercy that Nelle Harper Lee at the age of four score and seven years would publish another book in the Mockingbird series. She died a couple days ago, and the obituaries are filled with her praises. I didn't know that she had been working on a law degree before she went up North and work on To Kill A Mockingbird. And that she is a direct descendant of Robert E. Lee. Shouldn't be that long before they put out a movie based on this final book of hers.