Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

Harper Lee to publish second novel

55 years after To Kill A Mockingbird. Loved that book.

Harper Lee is to publish her second novel - 55 years after To Kill A Mockingbird.
Go Set a Watchman, a novel the Pulitzer Prize-winning author completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released on 14 July, her publishers said.
It is essentially a sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird, featuring Scout Finch as an adult - although it was actually written first.
Lee's editor persuaded her to rework some of the story's flashback sequences as a novel in their own right. That book became Mockingbird.
"I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told," said the author in a statement. "I hadn't realised 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."

Comments

  • Lincsaddick
    Lincsaddick Posts: 32,472
    I have a suspicious mind .. I always believed - with no evidence whatsoever - that her childhood friend Trueman Capote wrote TKAMB and gave it to Lee as a thank you present for her friendship, she was Capote's only real friend and companion .. of course, we will never know
  • Chunes
    Chunes Posts: 17,566

    I have a suspicious mind .. I always believed - with no evidence whatsoever - that her childhood friend Trueman Capote wrote TKAMB and gave it to Lee as a thank you present for her friendship, she was Capote's only real friend and companion .. of course, we will never know

    I hope that's not because you don't believe a woman could have written it. Capote had a very distinctive writing voice, think that idea is a bit far fetched.
  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,166

    I have a suspicious mind .. I always believed - with no evidence whatsoever - that her childhood friend Trueman Capote wrote TKAMB and gave it to Lee as a thank you present for her friendship, she was Capote's only real friend and companion .. of course, we will never know

    Interesting, is there anything in particular that makes you suspicious or is it just a hunch ?
  • I have a suspicious mind .. I always believed - with no evidence whatsoever - that her childhood friend Trueman Capote wrote TKAMB and gave it to Lee as a thank you present for her friendship, she was Capote's only real friend and companion .. of course, we will never know

    I had thought this as well, but apparently not..http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5244492
  • Madz
    Madz Posts: 1,004
    To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my all time favourite books. Started to read it at school, teacher stopped us reading it very early on in the book and we switched to Super Fudge (not quite the same), so i decided to read it for myself years later and loved it. Will be interesting to see what this one is like if Mockingbird was born from it originally.
  • Lincsaddick
    Lincsaddick Posts: 32,472

    I have a suspicious mind .. I always believed - with no evidence whatsoever - that her childhood friend Trueman Capote wrote TKAMB and gave it to Lee as a thank you present for her friendship, she was Capote's only real friend and companion .. of course, we will never know

    I had thought this as well, but apparently not..http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5244492
    Interesting but not conclusive, as if it really matters. I have read quite a bit of Capote as well as biographies of both him and Harper Lee. My 'suspicions', as I have written above are no more than conjecture gleaned from my 'studies'. Whatever,TKAMB is a terrific book.
    I first discussed this 'issue' years ago with my 2nd cousin who later went to the Univ of Mississippi, next door to Alabama to study English and American comparative literature. The Lee/Capote 'question' was quite a hot topic there. The consensus is/was in my cousin's class/faculty, that if not written by Capote, he certainly had a great influence on the novel. This 'conclusion' was reached after an extensive study of Capote' s writings, a conclusion in contrast to the contents of the article you quote, Whatever. As I wrote above, we will never know, just enjoy the book.
  • Saga Lout
    Saga Lout Posts: 6,845
    Sadly, I fear I will not live long enough to read Harper Lee's 3rd book...
  • soapy_jones
    soapy_jones Posts: 21,443
    O'Level book for me. The film version is worth a look too.
  • guinnessaddick
    guinnessaddick Posts: 29,030
    edited February 2015
  • brogib
    brogib Posts: 2,128

    I have a suspicious mind .. I always believed - with no evidence whatsoever - that her childhood friend Trueman Capote wrote TKAMB and gave it to Lee as a thank you present for her friendship, she was Capote's only real friend and companion .. of course, we will never know

    Similar to the theory that some have for William Shakespeare himself, that he was just a very good promoter for his time

  • Sponsored links:



  • tangoflash
    tangoflash Posts: 10,794

    O'Level book for me. The film version is worth a look too.

    Written by Seamus O'level?...........
  • MrOneLung
    MrOneLung Posts: 27,065
    How can you 'forget' about the other book.

    I smell a rat.
  • JiMMy 85
    JiMMy 85 Posts: 10,213
    Who said they had forgotten it?
  • MrOneLung
    MrOneLung Posts: 27,065
    On the news last night it stated something along the lines that she was shocked when reminded of the original book.
  • I think she was shocked it was still in existence.
  • Mockingbird is brilliant - a great story and beautifully written. Of course, Harper Lee is not British so the book is no longer worthy of study at GCSE level according to Gove.
  • Chunes
    Chunes Posts: 17,566
    @WayneK Why flag me?
  • brogib
    brogib Posts: 2,128
    Chunes said:

    @WayneK Why flag me?

    You were offside by a country mile pal! ; )
  • Lincsaddick
    Lincsaddick Posts: 32,472

    Waterstones


    New titles Coming soon Bestsellers Offers eBooks Events Waterstones Card

    Harper Lee's new novel...

    We could not be more excited to announce the forthcoming publication of Go Set a Watchman, the new novel from Harper Lee, 55 years after To Kill a Mockingbird. In some ways a sequel to the much loved classic, it was in fact written first and then lost for more than half a century.

    Harper Lee says: "In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called Go Set a Watchman. 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 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 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."

    Go Set a Watchman will be published on 14th July 2015.


    Pre-order book Read more on our blog

    Go Set a Watchman



    To Kill a Mockingbird Buy book










  • Granpa
    Granpa Posts: 2,995
    Mockingbird, one of my favourite films in my collection. Watchman will be filmed, I hope that I am around to see it.