Watching Harper Lee

What's special about July 14, 2015? It's the day that Harper Collins published Go Set a Watchman, which represents half the output of one of the most successful but unprolific authors of the twentieth century, Harper Lee.

A hyped release? Publisher Harper Collins are making the most of this but it is a standalone event in publishing, the likes of which are rare. Amazon reports pre-orders for a book, closing in on the record-holding Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Generating buzz, the publishers released the first chapter ahead of publication. You can read it live on the websites of The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal.

This book was written in the 50s, before To Kill a Mocking Bird and revolves around Jean Louise Finch and her relationship to her father Atticus. In 1957 Lee presented it to publisher J. B. Lippincott, who were somewhat dismissive, but praised the "flashback" scenes, suggesting the work get re-written from the child's (Scout's) perspective – and that re-working became one of the most successfully conceived works of fiction ever written.

What will we find when we read it? I've added it to my ThriftBooks Wish List, which means that I'll be notified as soon as used books come on to the shelves, and while it's interesting to ponder what the price reduction over list price and street price will be, I'm most piqued by what we will find between the covers of the book. How will this work change our perception of Harper Lee, one of the all-time classic novels that showed such a perfect snap-shot of the segregated South? Will the image of Atticus Finch, fueled by Hollywood's realization, be tarnished or burnished?

I also wonder what Alice F. Lee, Harper's sister and life-long companion who died at the end of 2014 at aged 103, would have made of the pre-release of the first chapter and the publication in general. Alice inherited their father's law practice and represented her sister's professional interests, so it might not be coincidental that the release of Go Set a Watchman comes only after she has passed away.

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