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Second Take: Questions surround release of Harper Lee’s second novel

Amid concerns of author Harper Lee’s involvement in its publishing, “Go Set a Watchman,” the sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” will be released in July.
(Harper Collins Publishers)

By Kelsey Rocha

Feb. 4, 2015 4:56 p.m.

Make way Mary Higgins Clark, there’s a new queen of suspense in town and her name is Harper Lee.

While 88-year-old Lee doesn’t write suspense-thriller mysteries, she still managed the plot twist of her career with the announcement of her second book release 55 years after her first, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Before there were TLC television shows like “Here Comes Honey Boo,” “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta” and “Welcome to Myrtle Manor” Americans got a glimpse of Southern life in Lee’s beloved 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning classic “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Yet, before she published her famed novel, she wrote a sequel to “To Kill a Mocking Bird” titled “Go Set a Watchman” in the 1950s, which remained unpublished until now.

Across the country, “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is one of the most commonly assigned books for middle school and high school students. The book paints a nostalgic – yet harsh – picture of Southern life in the 1930s through the perspective of 6-year-old Scout Finch. Taking place in Maycomb, Ala., Scout watches her father, lawyer Atticus Finch, defend Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape.

“Go Set a Watchman” takes place about 20 years later. An adult Scout, who has moved north to New York, returns to her childhood home to visit her father Atticus.

The themes of “To Kill a Mocking Bird” deal extensively with institutionalized racism and class discrimination, especially within the legal system.

Recent allegations of civil rights violations in police brutality cases in Ferguson and New York have resulted in what some are calling a second civil rights movement. Naturally, the Internet instantly began turning out articles analyzing the political relevance of releasing the novel now. “Go Set a Watchmen” was the parent of “To Kill a Mocking Bird,” featuring an adult Scout remember her childhood through flashbacks.

“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,” Lee said in a statement. “I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told.”

However, other articles from Jezebel, BBC and The Guardian propose Lee is in poor health following her stroke in 2007 and suggest doubt about Lee’s involvement and willingness to publish. Lee’s friend and personal lawyer, Tonja Carter, stumbled across the lost manuscript in Lee’s personal archive. Carter found the manuscript conveniently after the death of Alice Lee, Lee’s sister. Alice Lee, also Lee’s lawyer until retiring at age 100, actively fought to preserve Lee’s right to privacy after she chose to isolate herself from the media.

Lee, famous for her reclusiveness, refused all publicity for her and her book a few years after the 1962 film adaptation release. When her childhood neighbor released “The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee,” a biography about living next door to the Lee sisters, Lee adamantly denied any sort of cooperation in its authorship. With her history of seclusion, the sudden book release points to uncharacteristic behavior.

Yet, the paramount question surrounding the belated release of the novel is whether or not it will be any good. One of the most charming things about “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is that it explores complicated, adult topics such as racism, rape and religion through the eyes of a young child. Scout’s voice married curiosity with humor to honestly and insightfully recreate the reality of living in a small southern town in the ‘30s as a young white girl. Yet, in her new book, Scout is an adult, and the charm of youthful inquisition won’t be a viable option.

Lee’s success rate is a solid 100 percent since her first and only book received immediate praise. Two years after its publication, Hollywood’s film adaptation also skyrocketed into critical acclaim. Yet, after 50 years, the outcome of public and critical reception of Lee’s second book is a complete toss-up.

If ever there were a case for quality before quantity it would be Lee’s “To Kill a Mocking Bird.” So come July 14, her second book will almost certainly fly off the shelves, if not for the book’s quality, then certainly to quench a nation’s curiosity.

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Kelsey Rocha
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