Harper Lee will publish ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Sequel on July 14

‘Go Set a Watchman’ the sequel to the beloved classic ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ thought to be lost for twenty years, has been discovered and is set to be published on July 14th, 2015!

Today HarperCollins Publishers announced it has obtained the rights to another Harper Lee novel. Harper Lee is the author of the celebrated ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. The recently unearthed novel is entitled ‘Go Set the Watchman’ and its original manuscript was supposedly thought to have been long lost since it was written in the 1950’s. HarperCollins Publishers have attained the North American rights to the novel and it will be published on the 14th of July 2015. 

According to Harper Lee, ‘Go Set a Watchman’ is a kind of sequel to ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ as it will feature many of its characters in the 1950’s.  The main character Scout is now and adult and back in her hometown of Maycomb from New York about twenty years later. The events of the novel relate how Scout meets her father Atticus and comes to deal with both personal and political issues. The novel is an emotional journey for Scout as she comes to peace with her feelings of inner conflict regarding her childhood and her father’s views of society. 

Harper Lee was awarded a Pulitzer and a Presidential Medal of Freedom for her novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, However Harper Lee wrote the novel ‘Go Set a Watchman’ in the 1950’s before writing the ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ but her editor was intrigued by the flashbacks of Scout’s childhood and persuaded her to write from her point of view. Being a first timer Lee did as was told and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ was born and published by J. B. Lippincott in 1960.

Harper Lee then set aside ‘Go Set a Watchman’ and it was thought to be lost until the fall of 2014. Lee’s lawyer and friend Tonja Carter discovered the manuscript and surprised her; she was delighted at its rediscovery and shared it with some of her trusted friends. Lee’s friends thought the novel worthy of published and so there it is being published after so many years. 

The novel’s deal was settled between the President and Publisher of HarperCollins US General Books Group and Canada, Michael Morrison and Harper Lee’s lawyer, Tonja Carter. Michael Morrison believes that millions around the world always wished that Harper Lee had written another novel and ‘Go Set a Watchman’ is an excellent piece of literature and will be admired by generations to come.

The Senior Vice President and Publisher of HarperCollins considers this a remarkable literary event and believes the sequel will prove an brilliant narrative of a father daughters relationship dynamics during the racial tensions of the 1950’s. 

Harper Lee’s second novel ‘Go Set a Watchman’ will be published by Penguin in the UK and the Commonwealth.