Logo

WSJ

Harper Lee’s First Book Since ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Was Published 55 Years Ago Hits Bookstores Next Week. But You Can Read the First Chapter of the New Book, ‘Go Set a Watchman,’ Now

Jul 9, 2015  •  Post A Comment

The Wall Street Journal has purchased the rights to publish the first chapter of Harper Lee’s novel “Go Set a Watchman,” which will be in bookstores next Tuesday, July 14, 2015.

As the Journal reports, “In 1957, when she was 31 years old, Harper Lee submitted her first attempt at a novel to the publisher J.B. Lippincott.

“Titled ‘Go Set a Watchman,’ it was set in the ’50s and opened with a woman named Jean Louise Finch returning home to Alabama. Ms. Lee’s editor found the story lacking but, seizing on flashback scenes, suggested that she write instead about her protagonist as a young girl. The result was a Pulitzer Prize-winning classic: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’

“‘Go Set a Watchman’ will be published on Tuesday. It has undergone very little editing. ‘It was made clear to us that Harper Lee wanted it published as it was,’ Jonathan Burnham, publisher of HarperCollins’ Harper imprint, said in a statement. ‘We gave the book a very light copy edit.’”

To read the first chapter of “Go Set a Watchman” right now on the website of the WSJ, please click here.

GoSetaWatchman

 

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)