The author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, wrote a prior novel that was set 25 years after TKM. Ironically, she wrote the “new” tale 25 years before the earlier one was published. Lee recently assured fans that her latest publication includes Atticus Finch and his now-grown daughter, “Scout,” Jean Louise.
The novel was “lost” for decades and was published in 2014. She had forgotten about it, likely due to the resounding success of To Kill a Mockingbird. However, Go Set a Watchman finally was delivered to fans around the world, during the week of Sunday, July 12, 2015.
On Monday, July 13, Odell Public Library, 307 S. Madison Street, Morrison, IL, was gifted with a copy of Go Set a Watchman by Stephanie Vavra. Library Aide Olivia Norman, left, of Morrison, received the book from Vavra. Norman has been a part-time aide since February 2014. She had to register the novel as a “new item, donation,” before it could be placed into the hands of readers.
There is a waiting list for Go Set a Watchman. The woman at the top of that list was called.
Vavra has one copy that is for sale at $28. Call 815-535-7005 if you wish to purchase it.
Following is a summary from Amazon.com.
From Harper Lee comes a landmark new novel set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird, set in Macomb, GA.
Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch–“Scout”–returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet….She learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt.
Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past–a journey that can only be guided by one’s own conscience.
Written in the mid-1950’s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor, and effortless precision–a profoundly affecting work of art, that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context, and new meaning to an American classic.