Posted on 07/08/2015 9:50:57 AM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
Nearly 60 years after Harper Lee wrote “Go Set a Watchman,” the novel she hoped would be her literary debut, the 89-year-old author was handed a finished copy of the book at a private lunch in Monroeville, Ala., last week.
Despite the manuscript’s long and uncertain journey to publication, Ms. Lee seemed breezily self-assured about the book’s highly anticipated release next week, people who attended said.
After her publishers gave her the first copies off the presses of the American and British versions of “Watchman,” Ms. Lee was asked if she ever expected the novel to be published.
“Of course I did, don’t be silly,” she said, according to Lee Sentell, the director of the Alabama Tourism Department, who attended the lunch on June 30.
Ms. Lee sat next to Joy Brown, a longtime friend who lent her money when she was living in New York in the 1950s so she could focus on writing. Ms. Lee has poor eyesight and hearing and is largely confined to a nearby nursing home. But on this day she was animated and in good spirits, Mr. Sentell said. Wearing a black blouse and a black-and-white checked jacket, Ms. Lee signed copies of the book during lunch and chatted with people, he said. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I love To Kill A Mockingbird...my favorite novel. Beautifully written.
Based on true events from her childhood....................
I just went to Monroeville in April to see the annual production of “Mockingbird” and it was amazing. I’ve got tons of family in that region and it seemed I was related to about a third of the cast. They do an absolutely wonderful job! Well worth traveling there to see it. In fact, this year there’s a group from Australia that was scheduled to come and I think next year a group from Japan is planning on coming. Act I takes place outside the courthouse/museum and Act II takes place inside the courtroom.....
Indeed. A gem of literature.
I just hope that publishing this new book is not a money grab that will tarnish the perceived genius behind Mockingbird.
Was she Scout?
Tom Robinson was.not the only mockingbird in the story...Boo was one, Jem was one, the old woman hooked on herion...any othets?
She was Scout and Truman Capote, her childhood friend, was Dill.
An instant white guilt classic for the Church of Racism and Global Warming.
But written so bloody well! :-D
Anyway, I don’t feel guilty.
I wonder if Atticus ever did play football for the Methodists!?!
Well, I don’t rightfully know, but I seem to recall that she wrote the story based on events that happened in a town near where she grew up....................
Not far from here...................Ft. Walton Beach / Destin.......................
We don’t know what’s in it yet.
This story is supposedly set in NYC and Scout is a grown woman, years after the events of Mockingbird....................
Because Truman Capote! (Talkin' 'bout the Gregory Peck classic.) Who scribbled this one?
This book was written before ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. When her editor read it, she suggested that a flashback of when Scout was a girl would be the better story to tell. Ms. Lee then wrote ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and won the Pulitzer.
‘Go Set a Watchman’ was thought to be lost since the late 50s, but then was discovered by one of Ms. Lee’s friends a few years ago.
I love that Harper Lee lived long enough to see this kind of recognition and her second book released. I think she will enjoy the attention much better this time around.
Thanks. I knew that.
Ms. Lee has lived reclusively for years, shunning the fame that might have been hers. She did emerge quietly for the 50th anniversary of Mockingbird. I, too, hope she enjoys the recognition that this new publication may bring.
My only concern is that, as a first novel, it might not be up to the standard that she set as a more experienced writer in her second attempt.
For anyone interested, the latest issue of the “Smithsonian” has a lengthy article about Harper Lee, To Kill A Mocking Bird and Monroeville, With references to Truman Capote, etc.
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