Business & Tech
Booksellers, Readers Bring High Expectations to Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman'
Barnes and Noble bookstores will open two hours early on Tuesday with special promotions for the release of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' sequel.
By Marc Torrence/CT Patch
“Since Atlanta, she had looked out the dining-car window with a delight almost physical.”
So begins the most-anticipated novel perhaps in the history of publishing in the United States.
Find out what's happening in Chelmsfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman goes on sale July 14, and the first chapter was released Friday morning, adding yet another layer of excitement to the frenzy of media coverage that has accompanied the publication of Lee’s first book in 55 years.
The release is not without its fair share of controversy. Still, booksellers across the country are excited for the novel.
Find out what's happening in Chelmsfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Barnes & Noble in Burlington will open at 7 a.m., on Tuesday, July 14, two hours earlier than usual. The store will also be offering a free, tall hot coffee for anyone who purchases Go Set a Watchman between 7 and 9 a.m. July 14. Additionally, the first 20 people in line to purchase the Go Set a Watchman will receive a free To Kill a Mockingbird tote.
Go Set A Watchman takes place about 20 years after the events of To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee’s only other novel, which won a Pulitzer Prize and is regarded as one of the greatest works in the history of American literature.
The new novel, like the old, is told from the point of view of Scout Finch. Chapter One follows Scout as she journeys home to Maycomb, Alabama, from New York City.
Without giving away plot points or spoilers, a few updates to some characters and events already have some readers surprised and upset.
Lee, now 89, still lives in Monroeville, Alabama, the town for which fictional Maycomb is modeled. With her health declining, many have questioned whether she was competent enough to approve the release of the manuscript, which was found by her lawyer in 2014.
The state of Alabama opened an elder-abuse investigation against Lee’s lawyer, Tonja B. Carter, but found Lee was capable of giving consent to the publication of the novel.
Read the first chapter of Go Set A Watchman.
Image courtesy Harper Collins
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