We learn that she has lived away from home for five years, and grown from “an overalled, fractious, gun-slinging creature into a reasonable facsimile of a human being”. The story follows Jean Louise Finch as she returns to Alabama to visit her ailing father-her famous Pulitzer prize-winning novel was written as a prequel of sorts to the original tale. Was it deemed unpublishable when it was written in the 1950s?
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Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman is hitting stores July 14, but the first chapter is already online.
Yet the bulk of this opener rests not with Atticus, the attorney hero of Mockingbird, but with Jean Louise, hopscotching from one of her memories to the next. Atticus, an nearly godlike figure to the Scout of Mockingbird, is now in constant pain.
This is all I want to know before joining the millions of people that will buy this book on Tuesday to jump back into a story that will no doubt jettison me to fond memories of school, of love, of parental worship, of fear, of innocence, of confusion, of race, of sadness, of adolescence, and that of endless learning. They hide their thoughts. Considered to be lost text, the author’s lawyer discovered the manuscript in 2014. “Henry”, she said primly. “And of course it is so hilarious”, said Nurnberg. And along the way, Harper Lee fills us in on family background and civic history – because this is intended as a scene-setting chapter and she assumes we have no prior connection to the woman on the train.
“There’s an emotional attachment for this book that isn’t always there for other big books coming out”, said Vivien Jennings, owner of Rainy Day Books in Fairway, which will offer treats and a raffle drawing to customers on Tuesday. An investigation by the Alabama Securities Commission found that Lee wants to publish the work.
So far, the book’s publisher, HarperCollins, says it has no reason not to believe the words of Tonja Carter, who is looking after Lee’s estate.
Hailman said he’s looking forward to the party and reading the novel.
Many assumed that there would never be another book from the famously private author, but this February, news broke that a long-lost manuscript had surfaced amongst Lee’s papers.
“Hush, girl”, he said, holding her face in place. The first chapter includes her chuckling at the bad fortune of a smug cousin of her.
Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Ala., plans walking tours and a marathon reading in the former courthouse. She’s not a sneaky schemer of any kind … “No. For the present she would pursue the stony path of spinsterhood”. She was in a good mood. Interestingly, the events of the first book aren’t directly referenced, instead using familiar characters for what appears to be a whole new story.
“We’ve got our best security operations on this book”, Mary Amicucci, vice president of adult trade and children’s books for Barnes & Noble, told the WSJ.
-Alabama says she wasn’t manipulated. “Last week she was grateful. It seems she’s ready for it to be published”.
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Harper Lee was photographed for the first time in six years. “It’s delightful to hear her voice again”.
