10 Facts about Harper Lee’s New Novel

It was 1960 when Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird first entered American culture. Lee’s story is one that carries timeless themes: inequality, class, personal perseverance, gender roles, and compassion. Immediately, it was a success. Lee’s warm, accessible, and personal prose led to the writer receiving the Pulitzer Prize. The story of Scout and Atticus Finch in Maycomb, Alabama became one for the ages.

For years, people waited for a follow-up. Nothing happened, though. Suddenly, the wait for another masterpiece faded. Then, out of nowhere, 55 years later, Harper Lee’s publisher has announced that a new novel is coming this summer.

WHAT!?!

Yep, that was my first reaction, too. If you are like me, you don’t really know what to think. On one hand, how could any person not be excited about a new work by Harper Lee? On the other hand, why is it happening now? Could this ruin her legacy? Is the novel spectacularly good?

The truth is that nobody knows just how good (or bad) this new novel will be. All we have are a few glimpses into what we can expect. Below are 10 facts about the new Lee book:

1. Go Set a Watchman is the title of Harper Lee’s new novel.
2. Go Set a Watchman will hit bookstores’ shelves on July 14^th, 2015.
3. Lee completed Go Set a Watchman in the 1950s.
4. The novel will be about an adult Scout Finch. Scout lives in New York, but she travels back home to visit her father, Atticus, for some reason.
5. Maycomb, Alabama is still home.
6. Go Set a Watchman was actually written before To Kill a Mockingbird was published.
7. Go Set a Watchman takes place in the 1950s.
8. We will see some of the same characters from To Kill a Mockingbird.
9. Tonja Carter, Lee’s lawyer and friend, found the manuscript and reminded Lee of its existence.
10. People are excited!

As it gets closer to the summer release date, I’m sure more details will surface. The world of literature is getting attention, and that’s something to appreciate.

Are you excited about Go Set a Watchman? Are you skeptical? Sound off in our comments.

See larger image Go Set a Watchman: A Novel (Hardcover) By (author): Harper Lee An historic literary event: the publication of a newly discovered novel, the earliest known work from Harper Lee, the beloved, bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. Originally written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman was the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before To Kill a Mockingbird. Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014. Go Set a Watchman features many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch—Scout—struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her. Exploring how the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are adjusting to the turbulent events transforming mid-1950s America, Go Set a Watchman casts a fascinating new light on Harper Lee’s enduring classic. Moving, funny and compelling, it stands as a magnificent novel in its own right. List Price: $27.99 USD New From: $12.31 USD In Stock Used from: Out of Stock This title will be released on July 14, 2015.