As a southern writer who has revered and admired Harper Lee for decades and considers her classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the best southern novels of all time, I will not be reading Go Set a Watchman, the just published second novel by Lee.
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about how excited I was that a new manuscript had been found written by Harper Lee. Like many, I thought this was the best literary news of the century. Then pretty quickly, new information came to light. Miss Lee’s lawyer was the one who found the manuscript, after Harper Lee had already moved to an assisted living facility in Monroe, Alabama. Reports that she was nearly deaf and blind and a bit wobbly of mind and body, which most of us would be at 89 years of age, began to surface.
Fast forward a few months and the president of HarperCollins shows up at the assisted living facility to give Harper the first copy of Go Set a Watchman, allowing for a perfect photo op of Harper Lee smiling at the cameras, the ‘found’ book in hand.
On July 14, 2015, Go Set a Watchman was released to the world and the reviews are coming in. They’re not good. But still I’ve been debating if I ‘should’ read it. Friends are asking if I will. Like many readers, I want to experience more of Harper Lee’s talent and her fine storytelling. But I’ve ultimately decided that I won’t read the book, and here are my 10 Reasons Why:
1. No writer I know would ever want an early draft of one of their novels published. No way. Never. Writers have been known to create bonfires in order to burn early drafts. Really big bonfires. In fact, this 
is probably why shredders were invented. Perhaps it was summer and some mechanically-minded writer, who had a stack of early drafts, didn’t want to build a fire, so he or she built a shredder instead. Early drafts of novels are like diaries that you hope no one ever sees because they reveal too much. They are full of mistakes and dullness and undeveloped ideas and under-developed plot lines. This is why prominent reviewers are calling Go Set a Watchman a “mess.” Ouch.
2. Harper Lee was intensely private. Famously private. She was a literary celebrity. Everybody wanted something from her. A decade or so ago a neighbor published a book about her and she never spoke to them again. Why would she become less private in the last year? Why would she now allow people to get a piece of her? And an untidy piece, at that. This makes no sense to me.
3. This is not a “new” book. She did not write another book after she won the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird. I imagine she knew she couldn’t top what she’d already done. This is an early draft of Mockingbird. A draft that her editor rejected because it wasn’t good enough to publish. The editor then suggested she write the story from the point of view of a young girl. a.k.a. Scout. Sometimes editors and agents offer really GREAT advice. This advice changed her destiny.
4. Her older sister was known as her “protector,” which implies to me that Harper Lee wasn’t that great at saying ‘no,’ and her sister was much better at it. Her sister died a couple of years ago and I wonder if this book is now published because her sister wasn’t there to say ‘no’ for her. Her lawyer evidently didn’t see the need to protect her when she ‘found’ the manuscript in Harper Lee’s empty house. Does anybody know how much she is getting as a finder’s fee?
5. First novels are notoriously autobiographical. As someone who has edited a lot of first novels, trust me, this is true. Writers are usually working through their issues in their first novels. Go Set a Watchman is a snapshot of Harper Lee’s struggles at that time, as a young woman in her mid-twenties. Do you remember yourself at that age? Would you want your unrevised, naive thoughts to go in a novel that millions of people will read as your long-awaited NEXT book? I honestly don’t know of anybody who would, unless it was Donald Trump.
6. Writers, especially novelists, change things in a book through many drafts. Sometimes dozens of drafts. We change things even in the galleys, our last look at it before the book goes to print. Manuscripts are constantly evolving and (hopefully) getting better. Harper Lee did not revise any of this book. She wrote this early draft in the 1950s. She didn’t read the galleys last spring. She has no idea what’s in there. No writer does that unless convinced or coerced into thinking it is something of value in its raw form.
Harper Lee speaks with documentary filmmaker and author Mary McDonagh Murphy 3 days ago
7. In the current publishing empire, it is common knowledge that “the bottom line” is all that matters. Profit and loss statements are created for every book published, and if they’re not guaranteed to make a certain amount of money, they are dropped. If Harper Lee had been an unknown writer who sent in this manuscript of an early draft I’m guessing she would have been rejected many times, and the manuscript deemed unsellable. The professional reviews I’ve seen call it a mess and uneven. That “mess” became something great. It became To Kill a Mockingbird.
All early drafts of first novels are a “mess.” That’s why writers rewrite and revise for years. That’s how self-publishing got a bad name, because of all the writers who put their messes out there without taking the time to rewrite and let the novel evolve.
8. Harper Lee’s legacy has been changed forever. A legacy she and her sister closely guarded until recently. If I read the book aren’t I giving the publishing empire exactly what they set out to get–my dollars? If they really have the best of intentions, why not donate all the proceeds of the book to fight illiteracy or world hunger?
9. Conscientious authors think of their readers above all else. They are out to write the best story they can because readers are out there waiting for them. Harper Lee has had legions of readers waiting for a really long time. If she were able to consider her readers, she would make sure it was as great a story as To Kill a Mockingbird. She would take the time to go in and rewrite and take it up a notch or two or three and make sure she delivered. Because of age, or for whatever reason, she wasn’t able to do that. Steps were skipped. Other people made decisions that she couldn’t make for herself. Forgive me, but I don’t trust these other people.
10. Finally, the tenth reason why I won’t be reading Go Set a Watchman: I don’t think Harper Lee would really want me to.
Well, that’s my 2 cents. What do you think? Have you read the novel yet? I welcome your thoughts. xo
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Susan Gabriel is the acclaimed southern author of The Secret Sense of Wildflower (named a Best Book of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews) and other southern novels, including Temple Secrets, Grace, Grits and Ghosts: Southern Short Stories and others. She lives in the mountains of North Carolina.
Very interesting! I too was surprised about this “decision” to publish from such a reclusive person. I didn’t realize the photo-op was so, shall we say, rigged, and shows that the big publishers are descending to slimball status like the tabloid press, even the “respectable” ones. More and more I think self-pub is the way to go for Welsey.
I so agree with you about point #1. I don’t know any writer who would disagree, This brings up the whole issue that’s been present in music for years, however. It’s not unusual for composers’ original thoughts or unfinished manuscripts to be performed in the raw or finished by others. From Bartok’s Viola Concerto (never finished and performed routinely in a truncated version) to Mahler’s “Tenth” (various stages of completion depending on which edition you get) to Beethoven’s “Tenth” (barely a sketch, but “finished” and “orchestrated” by Barry Cooper (horrible, sounds like bad Schubert) there are plenty of glimpses into creativity that so many artists would, if they were alive today, probably not want. No wonder Sibelius burned his unfinished Eighth Symphony in the fireplace, though even here a few scant sketches have been found and someone is in the process of “reconstructing” it. Sigh…
This is simply dreadful. No author would want an early draft of their manuscript to be read much less published. I’ve just finished a first draft of a mystery and started revising. I wouldn’t show it to anyone yet. There will be several revisions.
You’ve convinced me, Susan not to read this novel. I’m still shaking my head.
I know, Susan. I kept trying to talk myself out of my hesitation to read it, but things just consistently haven’t made sense. Finally, I decided that I had to write a blog post about it and just say, for better or worse, what I’ve been thinking. Thanks for responding. xo
I’ve burned plenty of things in the fireplace, John, and I recently told my grown daughters not to publish anything after my death that is from the late 1990s, i.e. the early years. Or, for that matter, anything that I haven’t had time to revise multiple times.
Your blog post which resonated perfectly with me–I don’t think that Harper Lee ever intended “Watchman” to be published, and the people who were involved in doing so have deliberately avoided dealing the people in Lee’s life who have been shown to have her best interests at heart all these years–makes you kinda suspicious doesn’t it? As soon as I started reading snippets and reviews, something about it didn’t sound/feel/smell right, and I am glad to get your second post on this since I recalled your eager enthusiasm for another Lee book when it was originally announced.
Thank you for your clarifying thoughts on this–your readers and fans are grateful!
Helen
Thanks for your feedback, Helen. It means a lot to me. More and more I realize that nothing is as it seems….
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Here are some initial thoughts from facebook friends:
Liz: I think I’ll skip it, too.
Debbie S.: You convinced me. Gave me reasons to think about. Thanks. I am not reading
Alexandra: It’s not a book I’ll ever be reading. Far better to read YOU, Susan! grin emoticon
Nancy: I read your blog, Susan…and it is affirming! Thank you for your courage. It didn’t feel right to me, either. I felt like I might be looking in someone’s underwear drawer after they had passed on unexpectedly wondering how they might feel if they knew. I honor Harper Lee for the story that helped shape my beliefs and for the way she conducted her life. And. I always try to keep my own underwear drawer neat.
Susan,
Many of your points are obviously true. I also doubt that the discovery of this manuscript happened the way we have been told. However, to me this is a milestone of literary history. I read the book the day it came out. It’s a fascinating book, and I’m glad I read it.
Yes, it needs editing. No, it’s probably not what Harper Lee would have published. But to read this and try to see how it morphed into “Mockingbird” is endlessly fascinating. It reads like a sequel, even though we know it was written first (or was it?). It provides a much more realistic and historically accurate portrait of Atticus and other characters.
So I am recommending that people read it, for the sake of literary significance if nothing else. Though, there’s a good story in there, too!
Love your last reason the best!
Wow, this is the hottest post you’ve had going in a while. Maybe I should list the ten reasons I won’t read GSaW! 🙂
Susan — your understanding of the situation and thoughtful rationale make a solid case for why none of us should purchase and read “Watchman.” I’m appalled that those who ought to have Miss Lee’s best interests at heart have acted in such self-serving ways. Thank you for your integrity and passion.
> Thank you for your integrity and passion.
Seconded.
I agree wholeheartedly, Susan.
I am convinced that $$$-signs were the driving force to publish this book… on every level. From the lawyer to the publisher and beyond, they were thinking only of their cut and nowhere was there consideration given to keeping Harper Lee’s legacy protected, nor her privacy for that matter.
An intensely private person has now been thrust into the limelight – and not a favorable one at that. – How could they justify doing this to her?
Truly shameful…
Great comments, everyone. Thank you!
I’ve read a great many articles about this controversy and felt it was time to weigh in as a writer of southern fiction.
I understand the “literary history” argument. Truly I do. But I just don’t think that precedent is strong enough to give us permission to take advantage of an older person. If she had found the manuscript herself, and reworked it and sent it to her agent, that would be a totally different scenario in my mind. Totally.
Perhaps new insights will be released in the future, and I will reverse my thoughts on this. In that case, I won’t mind at all admitting that I was wrong. Until then, I’ll stick by this post.
Thanks again for reading. I welcome more thoughts. You rock! xo
You make many wise comments about Harper Lee. Having taught To Kill a Mockingbird to my eighth graders for over twenty years, I was beyond excited at the chance to hear Harper Lee’s voice once again. I even had Go Set a Watchman delivered to me on vacation so that I could have it on day one. It does, however, feel like a first draft, and now I do feel that I invaded the author’s privacy. I worry that Miss Lee was tricked into allowing it to be published.(Seeing Atticus as a man not a saint turns out though to be an interesting part. )To Kill a Mockingbird will remain my favorite novel.
Hi Carol,
To Kill a Mockingbird remains my favorite novel, too. I probably read it the first time in 8th grade. That book is how I want to remember Harper Lee, not Watchman. She will always be a great writer in my mind.
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. xo