Harper Lee author of the classic novel“To Kill a Mockingbird,” realized 58 years later that she felt that she disappointed her readers by not writing a sequel.
In the mid 1950s she completed a novel called “Go Set a Watchman.” She wrote this book, featuring Scout as an adult, but her editor was intrigued by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood within the book. Her editor, Tay Hohoff, persuaded her to write a different book from the point of view of young Scout instead of adult Scout. Since she was a young writer at the time she abided by her editors request. Little did her editor nor Lee knew that the original book would become a squeal to “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
The first book “Go set a watchman” was rediscovered by Lee’s friend and lawyer, Tonja Carter. Carter convinced Lee to show more people the book and consider publication. Lee obliged, and showed the book to a handful of people that she trusted. Lee was pleased to hear that all her friends thought it was worthy of publication.
“I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years,” Lee told a CNN news reporter.
To the literary world the publication of a sequel of “To Kill a Mockingbird” is exciting. But people have been questioning Lee’s conditions while making decisions for her Literary career. Lee suffered a stroke in 2007, and now lives in an assisted-living facility in Alabama. Harper Lee is said to be almost completely blind and deaf. There has been controversy over whether or not Lee is in the right state of health to be making decisions for her literary career.
Considering that her editor persuaded her into changing the first novel she published, some believe that she may be persuaded or manipulated into agreeing to publish it now. Lee has once vowed that she would never publish again and she is one of the most famously private authors in modern publishing history. Some people question whether or not she is being taken advantage of.
Many people are also questioning the timing of the publication. Lee’s older sister, who was said to be aiding Lee in her old age, passed away in November. Three months after her sister passed away the book was announced to undergo publication.
No matter the story behind the new novel, it will surely be a must read for “To Kill a Mockingbird” fans and hopefully be a great sequel to her phenomenal classic.
