Even with Controversy, "Go Set a Watchman" a Boon for East Greenwich Bookseller

The release of Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman” is the most anticipated book release in years.

And for Anne Marie Keohane of Symposium Books in East Greenwich, it’s “the kind of thing we dream about happening and only once in a while does it come along.”

The book went on sale on Tuesday and sales have been brisk. The book, a prequel to Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” comes to market as no other book ever has, or could.

Lee, notoriously private, has essentially been in hiding for decades and the lead-up to Watchman’s release has been marked by controversy with curious, if not troubling, undertones that she was exploited in her old age to publish the novel.

Whether Lee was coerced into agreeing to publish the work or not, the fact is that it was written decades ago. Lee wrote “Go Set a Watchman” years before the Pulitzer Prize-winning ”To Kill a Mockingbird,” which is considered a generation defining and one of the greatest American novels ever written as well as a staple in high school curricula.

Now, 55-years after the publication of Lee’s watershed classic, Keohane said this week’s buzz about Watchman has been greatly influenced by revelations that the book reflects racism within its setting.

“I think people are feeling uncomfortable with the racism in the book,” she said.

From her perspective, things are a bit more complex than that. We might be a little naive to be shocked “at how people may have really felt back then,” Keohane said. “We have to account for the times in the book and the time it was written.”

The publicity will help drive customers to the store, which Keohane said is a blessing for booksellers, who count on hot titles to lure customers. Often, they find there’s plenty more worth reading once inside.

“It’s fantastic when the buzz surrounding an impending book release spreads to everyone, even those who don’t read so much,” she said. “At some point, everyone has at least read parts of To Kill a Mockingbird and knows the general story, and to a great many, myself included, it is one of the fondest books we’ve ever read so to have found a second book by the same author, when we thought there was no chance is very exciting and we’re really looking forward to reading it.”

Keohane said that she’ll be hosting a special book club to discuss “Go Set a Watchman” in August. For details, visit www.symposiumbooks.com or stop by the store at 1000 Division Rd., East Greenwich.

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.

Photo: copies of “Go Set a Watchman” ready for sale at Symposium Books in East Greenwich. (Courtesy: Anne Marie Keohane)