Millions have spent the last half-century yearning to read a second novel by Harper Lee, the famously reclusive author of To Kill a Mockingbird -- and this month, 55 years after Mockingbird's release, their wait will finally end.
In fact, it'll end a bit sooner than anticipated. HarperCollins will release Lee's Mockingbird sequel, Go Set a Watchman, on July 14. On Monday, though, The Wall Street Journal announced that it will also publish the first chapter of Watchman on Friday, July 10. An excerpt from Watchman's audiobook, read by Reese Witherspoon, will debut that day as well.
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Lee's long-awaited followup to her Pulitzer Prize-winning classic was actually written before Mockingbird. As the 88-year-old author explained in a statement issued by her publisher this February, "In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called Go Set a Watchman. It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became To Kill a Mockingbird) from the point of view of the young Scout.
"I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn't realized it (the original book) had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years."
Though many readers were delighted by the announcement of Watchman's publication, it also sparked controversy. Detractors point out that Lee has been in poor health since suffering a stroke in 2007, that she may have a history of signing agreements she doesn't fully understand, and that Watchman's release is coming only after the death of Lee's sister Alice -- who served as the publicity-shy author's lawyer and advocate for decades.