Go set a Watchman by Harper Lee

watchman

 

Described as the “publishing event of the decade” Go set a Watchman was written before the American Classic, To Kill A Mockingbird – which, until now, was Harper Lee’s only published novel.

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch – ‘Scout’ – returns home from New York City to visit her ageing father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past – a journey that can be guided only by one’s own conscience.

As Robert McCrum writes in The Guardian, “once the dust has settled, Watchman will be seen for what it is: a literary curiosity and a fascinating illustration of the mysterious pathways of the creative imagination. Watchman is also an apt reminder of Lee’s imaginative wellspring: the traumatic history of the American south.”


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