For more than half a century, “To Kill a Mockingbird” has stood apart as a singular American literary masterpiece, a perennial best seller that has provoked countless classroom discussions about racial and social injustice. It brought instant and overwhelming fame to its enigmatic author, Harper Lee, who soon retreated from the spotlight to her native Monroeville, Ala. She never published another book, leaving her millions of fans yearning for more.
Now, at age 88, Ms. Lee has revealed that she wrote another novel after all — a sequel of sorts to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” featuring an aging Atticus Finch and his grown daughter, Scout.
On Tuesday, Ms. Lee’s publisher announced its plans to release that novel, recently rediscovered, which Ms. Lee completed in the mid-1950s, before she wrote “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The 304-page book, “Go Set a Watchman,” takes place 20 years later in the same fictional town, Maycomb, Ala., and unfolds as Jean Louise Finch, or Scout, the feisty child heroine of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” returns to visit her father. The novel, which is scheduled for release this July, tackles the racial tensions brewing in the South in the 1950s and delves into the complex relationship between father and daughter.
Although written first, “Go Set a Watchman” is a continuation of the same story, with overlapping themes and characters. But Ms. Lee abandoned the manuscript after her editor, who was captivated by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, told her to write a new book from the young heroine’s perspective and to set it during her childhood.
“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told,” Ms. Lee said in a statement released by her publisher.
That story became “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a classic that was adapted into a 1962 film and has sold more than 40 million copies globally since it was published in 1960. It continues to sell more than a million copies a year and has been translated into more than 40 languages.
The novel takes place during the Depression, as the young Scout and her family are swept up in the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Scout’s father, played by Gregory Peck in the film adaptation, represents the accused man at trial.
Despite pleas and prodding from readers and the literary establishment, Ms. Lee never published again.
Ms. Lee said she had thought the draft of “Go Set a Watchman” had been lost or destroyed. Then last fall, Tonja Carter, her friend and lawyer, discovered the manuscript in a secure place where Ms. Lee keeps her archives, attached to an original typed manuscript of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” According to Ms. Lee’s publisher, Ms. Carter didn’t understand what she had stumbled on at first, until she realized that the passages weren’t from Ms. Lee’s first and only novel.
Ms. Lee wasn’t immediately sold on the idea of releasing it but was persuaded after a handful of people read it and reassured her it was worth publishing.
“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,” she said.
Scholars have long been aware that Harper Lee wrote an earlier manuscript, but many thought it was an early version of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” not a separate story that unfolds 20 years later.
Charles J. Shields, the author of a biography of Ms. Lee that was published by Henry Holt in 2006, said he had come across references to “Go Set a Watchman” in Ms. Lee’s early correspondence with her literary agent. “’I figured it was an early draft of To Kill a Mockingbird.’ ” Mr. Shields said. He also saw references from Ms. Lee’s editor to repeated revisions of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” as she tried telling the story from three different perspectives.
Mr. Shields is skeptical that the new novel would hold up against ”To Kill a Mockingbird,” which was an instant classic when she published it at 34.
“We’re going to see what Harper Lee writes like without a strong editor’s hand, when she’s, quite honestly, an amateur,” Mr. Shields said. “It’s going to be very interesting to see how original it is. A lot was taken from ‘Go Set a Watchman’ for ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ and maybe those are the best parts.”
The book’s publisher, Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, plans to print two million copies of the new book and release it on July 14. The deal was negotiated by Michael Morrison, president and publisher of HarperCollins U.S. General Books Group and Canada, and Ms. Carter. Harper declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal.
“I, along with millions of others around the world, always wished that Harper Lee had written another book,” Mr. Morrison said in a statement. “And what a brilliant book this is.”
Some critics and observers expressed concern about whether Ms. Lee had played a meaningful role in approving the deal and questioned why, after a 55-year hiatus, she had suddenly decided to publish again.
Ms. Lee suffered a stroke in 2007 and has been living in an assisted-living facility. Her sister, Alice Lee, a lawyer who was her companion and her protector from public scrutiny, died last fall.
Marja Mills, who struck up a friendship with the Lee sisters and became their neighbor in 2004, said she wondered about Ms. Lee’s level of involvement.
“I have some concerns about statements that have been attributed to her,” said Ms. Mills, who had her own public standoff with Harper Lee over “The Mockingbird Next Door,” a memoir she published about her friendship with the Lees.
When that book was announced, Harper Lee released a statement through her lawyer saying she had not sanctioned Ms. Mills’s book or knowingly participated in it. But Alice Lee later wrote to Ms. Mills and said that both she and Harper Lee supported the book. In a letter dated May 12, 2011, one that was made public, Alice Lee told Ms. Mills that her sister “can’t see and can’t hear and will sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence.”
Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher of Harper, said that the company had never spoken directly to Ms. Lee about the book and had communicated with her solely through her lawyer, Ms. Carter, and her literary agent, Andrew Nurnberg. The statement Ms. Lee provided expressing her delight that the new novel will finally be published was delivered through her lawyer, Mr. Burnham said.
Mr. Burnham said the book would not be altered from the original manuscript. He said that he was “completely confident” that Ms. Lee approved of the deal and that speaking directly with Ms. Lee “wasn’t necessary.”
A receptionist at Ms. Carter’s law firm in Monroeville said Ms. Carter was “not taking any calls about the news release.”
Ms. Lee has shied away from public attention for decades, but she is fiercely protective of her image and legacy. She has been involved in a handful of lawsuits in recent years, in what has appeared to be an effort to protect her literary legacy and estate.
Ms. Lee has occasionally addressed the question of why she never published another book after “To Kill A Mockingbird.” She has said she found the publicity surrounding “To Kill a Mockingbird” overwhelming and that she hd said all she had to say in that single work.
Mr. Nurnberg, Ms. Lee’s agent for international rights, said she had discussed her reservations about the new book with him. “She was a bit diffident at first and said, Is this really worth publishing right now?” he said. But during a recent visit with her in Monroeville, she also seemed “feisty,” he said, and in good spirits.
Mr. Nurnberg said she had taken issue with his description of the new book as a sequel.
He recalled, “She said: ‘This isn’t the sequel. This is the parent to ‘Mockingbird.’ ”
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