Have you heard the big news in the literary world? Harper Lee, now 88, is releasing a To Kill a Mockingbird sequel! My daughter, Krista, sent me a link to the announcement yesterday afternoon and my response to her was: Oh. My. God.
Millions of fans, including myself, have been wanting more from Harper Lee for decades, and we will finally get our wish.
Evidently, Harper Lee wrote this manuscript in the mid 1950s and then put it away. She went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird. The sequel is called Go Set a Watchman. (Publishing date: July 14, 2015) It is the story of To Kill a Mockingbird’s main character, Scout, grown up and returning home to visit her father, Atticus.
Here’s what Harper Lee said about why is hasn’t been released sooner:
“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,” she said.
“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn’t realized it (the original book) had survived, so I 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.”
Lee continued:
“I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”
Known for being reclusive and often questioned about why she only wrote one book, I imagine the publication of the To Kill A Mockingbird sequel will be a big moment for Harper Lee. Hopefully, her family and friends will protect her from the scrutiny her new novel will be under as it is compared to her first book, which is a literary classic.
As a writer, everything is compared to your best book, and as I put the finishing touches on my newest novel Temple Secrets (to be released later this month), I also wonder (on a much smaller scale, of course) how my readers will like it. It is very different from The Secret Sense of Wildflower, and any of the other novels I’ve written, although they all have similar ingredients: Secrets. Ghosts (in more than one). Characters you can root for. Courage. Resilience. Humor.
In the Kirkus Review (starred review, and a Best Book of 2012) for The Secret Sense of Wildflower, Wildflower was referred to as an “adolescent Scout Finch,” albeit one whose life took a difficult turn.
That single reference is encouraging enough to keep me writing for years! I have been compared to Harper Lee in other reviews, as well. I am honored by that, and humbled by the mere suggestion. I certainly don’t feel on that level. Although I can get a bit reclusive if I’m not careful, especially if I am working on a new novel!
It’s a totally different world out there than when To Kill a Mockingbird came out 55 years ago. The world of publishing alone has gone through enormous upheavals and changes in the last fifty years.
However, one thing hasn’t changed. It still takes a tremendous amount of courage for a writer of any age to put a book out into the world.
What do you think of this news? xo
Perhaps it can become a franchise, which the publishers love so much these days. “To Kill A Mockingbird: Breaking Dawn.” “To Kill A Mockingbird: Mockingjay.”
Ha! You are so funny sometimes, John. Please don’t give them any ideas! Although it may already be in the works. *grimace* Surely not.
Can you imagine Harper Lee with a facebook author page, posting photos of her cat? No. Not going to happen.
I think one of the great things about the new Harper Lee book is that she wrote it at the same time as TKAM. It will be in the same author’s voice and perspective. Does that make sense? It would be so different from if she decided to write a second book now.
It will be the same Harper Lee, not octagenerian Harper Lee.
What you’re saying makes perfect sense to me, K.L. Vintage Harper. Not Harper Vintage. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and contributing!
I’m also getting some comments via emails from readers. I’ll put them here without disclosing names, but I thought you’d enjoy their responses:
“Susan, I should have known you would be a Harper Lee aficionado! If you haven’t read ‘The Mockingbird Next Door,’ please give it a look-see. Wonderful story of Harper and her sister and their lives together.”
Also:
“Thanks, Susan…how great for Lee to enter the world of publishing at this time. Lucky for her she’ll never undergo the ‘getting published’ problems that face writers today.”
Me again: I actually wonder if Harper Lee could get published today. Writer Barbara Kingsolver says she doubts that her books would have gotten published in today’s market. It’s tough out there.
> Can you imagine Harper Lee with a facebook author page, posting
> photos of her cat? No. Not going to happen.
This is what I don’t get. Isn’t it more elite and interesting NOT to be all over the place on “social” media than posting like a publicity whore? Isn’t exclusive and elusive more desirable than dimestore ubiquitousness?
Hi John,
It definitely is more interesting, but Harper Lee has no trouble finding readers. They’ve already found her.
What must the brilliant, undiscovered author do? Especially if their publisher isn’t doing anything to help them get discovered?
It’s called “discoverability” these days, and it is a mystery every modern writer (who isn’t John Grisham or Patricia Cornwall) is trying to solve.
Let me know if you figure anything out.
P.S. Brilliant blog post today about Claire Danes and Rejection over at http://www.entertainingwelseyshaw.com. Good work, John.
Thanks. I was lying in bed with no thought for any post at all for Friday when the first two sentences came to me, I flung off the covers, and wrote it in 20 mins at one o’clock in the morning.