To Kill a Mockingbird author Lee to publish new novel

Go Set a Watchman, written in the 1950s and featuring characters from To Kill a Mockingbird,” will be published on 14 July.

Ms Lee, who had believed her original manuscript had been lost, said: “I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”

To Kill a Mockingbird, the story of race and growing up in Alabama in the 1930s, was published shortly after the dawn of the US civil rights movement and became required reading in many American and British schools. It was made into a film starring Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar for his performance.

Go Set a Watchman was written before To Kill a Mockingbird and is set 20 years afterwards.

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Scout as an adult

In her statement, Lee, 88, said: “In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called Go Set a Watchman. It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort.

“My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became To Kill a Mockingbird) from the point of view of the young Scout.

“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn’t realised it (the original book) had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it.

“After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication.”

The book will be published in the US by HarperCollins and in the UK by William Heinemann.