Harper Lee, the author who was once dubbed the ‘one hit wonder’ of the literary world, has announced plans to release a sequel to her popular novel To Killer A Mocking Bird, 55 years after its initial release.
Lee, who is now in her 80s, first released her chart topping critique of America’s Deep South, in 1960 when racial tensions in the states were high. The novel, which won the coveted Pulitzer Prize in 1961, is set in the 1930s and tackles the difficult topics such as racial prejudice, rape and judicial injustice through the eyes of 6 year-old Scout Finch, as she observes her father Atticus, who chooses to defend a black man accused of rape, unheard of in the time the novel was set.
The sequel, which apparently is actually a prequel as it was written before To Kill A Mocking Bird, is once again told from the point of view of Scout. This time, however, she is all grown up, and has returned to her home town of Maycomb county.
While fans, who have pestered Lee to release another book, are said to be ‘delighted’ by the news of Go Set the Watchman’s release, critics are little more suspicious, and have questioned why the intensely private Lee has decided release the book after all this time.
Some have said that it is her publishers who have pressured her to do it, and even friends of the writer, other authors, are concerned that Lee is being taken advantage of, following the death of her sister Alice, who often acted as her protector.
Author, Tracey Travillier (Girl with a Pearl Earring) voiced her concerns in an interview with BBC Radio 4.
“The industry has been waiting 55 years for her to produce something else and I’m not sure this is necessarily the thing she wants to bring out,” she said.
“While I’m very excited about it, I am really a little bit uneasy – because it is her first novel that is going to be coming out, and unedited and first novels are full of passion but can they also can be overwritten and a little clunky.
“And all writers have in our bottom drawer something that we would never want to see the light of day.”
Publishers Harper Collins have refuted these claims, saying that Lee is more than happy that the book is being published.
“There will inevitably be speculation regarding Harper Lee as she has lived a very private life,” Literary Agent Andrew Nurnberg stated.
“She was genuinely surprised at the discovery of the manuscript but delighted by the suggestion to publish what she considers to be the ‘parent’ to Mockingbird.
“I met with her last autumn and again over two days in January; she was in great spirits and increasingly excited at the prospect of this novel finally seeing the light of day.”
Go Set the Watchmen, will be released later this year.
