First Chapter of New Harper Lee Novel Previewed

“Watchman” comes out Tuesday, and the first chapter was released Friday by The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal.

“Go Set a Watchman”, the new book from Harper Lee, has been one of the most highly anticipated novels in half a century.

The first chapter introduces Lee’s beloved character, Scout, as a sexually liberated woman in her twenties, travelling from New York to Alabama to visit her ailing father, and a bombshell about Jem. Details of the plot, have, however, been kept secret.

Unlike some other prescribed school books, To Kill A Mockingbird has managed to stay dear to those of us who studied it. Maybe it’s because it caught our imaginations at a pivotal time; maybe the feisty Scout inspired us to be more fearless; perhaps we realised, for the first time, what racial segregation meant.

In addition, if you pre-order Go Set A Watchman or buy it the day of release at any Books & Books location, you get 20 percent off list price.

Thompson is the CEO of News Corp., which is the parent company of Watchman’s publisher, HarperCollins, so it’s unsurprising that he’s one of the lucky few to have read the book thusfar. Gregory Peck won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Atticus Finch.

It is the most pre-ordered book on Amazon.comsince J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” in 2007 – the seventh and final novel about the British teenage boy wizard.

“Harper Lee already has me sobbing”, one fan Tweeted.

The book opens with that unmistakable Lee prose, “Since Atlanta, she had looked out the dining-car window with a delight nearly physical“.

Harper Lee, 89, will publish her second novel, “Go Set a Watchman“, on July 14, 2015. Its publisher, HarperCollins, has confirmed that it is their best-selling preorder title ever. But Lee’s gift as a storyteller meant the novel felt like home (though I want to re-read To Kill A Mockingbird to reacquaint myself with the story before I dive into their later world). And so she leaves her reader suspended, just like Jean Louise, caught between homecoming and the shock of the new. Scout’s priorities, and her position as one of literature’s loudest and most important advocates for civil rights, are still made clear, however subtly, as she smiles joyously within the first paragraph at signs that inequality is beginning to change in her home town: “She grinned when she saw her first TV antenna atop an unpainted Negro house; as they multiplied, her joy rose“.

“At second reading I thought her relationship with the protagonist sounded… potentially interesting”, she said.

According to the book’s publisher, Lee’s current attorney, Tonya Carter, was checking on the original manuscript of “To Kill a Mockingbird“, which is held in a secret location in Monroeville, and found the pages of “Go Set a Watchman” attached to the back of it previous year. As she gets cozy with Henry and playfully rebuffs some of his flirtations, it’s like watching your younger sibling all grown up; you’re proud, and pleased, but a little protective, too. The whole controversy is so small-town gossipy to me, and since Lee won’t speak except through her lawyer it’s impossible to figure out what she “truly” believes.