Little is known about what will be found inside Lee’s sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” However, the basic plot of Lee’s 2014 sibling novel “Go Set a Watchman” involves the same characters in a setting 20 years later.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” has sold over 40 million copies since it was published in 1960, as well as being translated in over 40 languages. It was also made into a 1962 film. “Go Set a Watchman” is said to have been created before the first masterpiece, but Lee’s editors disapproved of the novel at the time and told her to rewrite it, eventually creating “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told,” said Lee through her publisher, HarperCollins, regarding the postponement of “Go Set a Watchman.”
It would seem like somewhat of an awkward time for Lee to unleash her second masterpiece, decades later and at age 89. Speculation is circulating within the media regarding the truth to the creation – and even discovery – of the manuscript for “Go Set A Watchman”. Last week, The New York Times revealed that an individual by the name of Justin Caldwell, a book enthusiast, is said to have found the original text for the book in 2011. It was found inside Lee’s safety deposit box within her bank in her hometown Monroeville, Alabama (with the consent of her lawyer and literary agent at the time). However, there seems to be an element of uncertainty regarding the origin and discovery of the text; Tonja B. Carter (Lee’s lawyer) is also said to have been the first to discover the typescript in August of 2014.
There has been a huge shift in racial tension, class and gender roles between the two eras in which each book was published. At the time when Lee’s first novel was circulated, The University of Alabama had yet to be desegregated. However, Lee’s new novel will bring new emotions and different elements regarding its individual themes that reflect on the era in which it was written, compared to the era in which it is being published.
