The publisher stunned the world in February when it revealed that a second novel was coming from Lee, who had long insisted that “To Kill a Mockingbird” would be her only book. In Go Set a Watchman, we may begin reading with that image in mind, but it fades within the first few pages.
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Harper Lee’s ‘Go Set a Watchman’ has knocked down EL James’ comply with-up erotic novel “Grey” from top of United Kingdom guide charts.
HarperCollins announced this week that “Go Set a Watchman” in its combined print, electronic and audio formats has sold 1.1 million copies in the USA and Canada, a figure which includes first-week sales and months of pre-orders. HarperCollins Chief Executive Brian Murray said that Go Set a Watchman in hardcover is outselling the digital edition by a factor of two-to-one, the Wall Street Journal indicated.
The first draft was rejected by her publisher in the 1950s in favor of a re-work. It turns out Atticus Finch was a segregationist and a bigot before he was the ideal vision of a white southerner who was able to rise above the racism of his time.
Lee, now 89, withdrew from public life shortly after the success of “Mockingbird” and the 1962 Oscar-winning film version starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.
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Too many people today, like Jean Louise Finch, are convinced that they are so morally right, so certain, they don’t have to listen to or even try to understand different views. The movie resonated well in the sixties with its theme of dignity in the face of violence, intolerance, and racial prejudice.
