BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Harper Lee to publish a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird

**Posted by A lovely light** February 3, 2015 6:49 pm

This news made my day! http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/books/harper-lee-author-of-to-kill-a-mockingbird-is-to-publish-a-new-novel.html?_r=1

**Posted by tonnaree** February 3, 2015 8:44 pm

This is amaazing.

**Posted by Ivy** February 3, 2015 9:55 pm

Just saw it on fb, I'll definitely read it.

**Posted by Russell** February 3, 2015 10:20 pm

I saw that! Fascinating… coming from one of the many who read it as required reading in high school and it's impact… especially about the 'never wrote another book' stuff, and how it recently came about again (and how much Harper had a hand in?) and that this book was the "original" apparently.

**Posted by Russell** February 4, 2015 6:57 am

Hey, so, really not meaning to be a downer, sorry, but still fascinating… and sad! Having never known much on Harper in the past, I found the bits in the first article interesting about realizing 'why' there had never been anything else published from her, with not wanting to deal with publicity/scrutiny/novel comparisons, etc, and how her sister had long been her advocate and 'shield' with all that. Unfortunately, with sister's death a while ago, and Harper's bad health, I wonder how truthfully close to home this countering article I found is:

http://jezebel.com/be-suspicious-of-the-new-harper-lee-novel-1683488258

Attitudes change… or maybe needed the money, but it's still strange. How do people feel about works being posthumously put out, then, whether because the author didn't get a chance to, or never chose to while alive? (or heck, even finished, like in the case of… who was it a while back, Robert Jordan's series?) Just has me wondering about all this happening now...

**Posted by tonnaree** February 4, 2015 1:04 pm

Interesting.

However, I know I will have to read it regardless. There's no way I could not.

**Posted by saturnR** February 6, 2015 10:44 am

Wow, he took his time

**Posted by SusiGo** February 6, 2015 10:47 am

She is a woman as far as I know.

**Posted by tonnaree** February 6, 2015 12:49 pm

Yes. Harper Lee is female.

**Posted by Schmiezi** February 6, 2015 3:04 pm

I must admit that my first thought was, oh dear, does she need money? I hope I am wrong and it will be a great new novel.

**Posted by ukaunz** February 21, 2016 4:35 am

RIP Harper Lee.
http://www.mtv.com/news/2742763/harper-lee-dead-to-kill-a-mockingbird/

I haven't read her new book yet, has anyone here read it?

Last edited by ukaunz (February 21, 2016 4:36 am)

**Posted by besleybean** February 21, 2016 8:27 am

Me and I like it.
But I seem to be the only person in the world who does.
Warning to Mockingbird acolytes, the sequel is very challenging.

**Posted by Liberty** February 21, 2016 9:06 am

Oh, I liked it, but haven't finished it yet (which is actually no reflection on the book - I'm very, very bad at jumping around from book to book and often have more than 20 on the go). Having read about it, I went into it with fairly low expectations. It's a different kind of story, seen through young adult eyes instead of a child's eyes. Quite funny in parts too.

I had mixed feelings about it being published. I know Harper Lee had resisted for years and may have been taken advantage of - I don't really know the truth of it all. I did think that maybe it was nice that she should have it published and have the money before she died.

**Posted by besleybean** February 21, 2016 10:40 am

Yes I think it may well have been published against her wishes...
Judging by most of the reaction to it, I can see why.

**Posted by Yitzock** February 21, 2016 2:54 pm

I have yet to read it. I kind of wanted to let some time pass, let the hype dissipate, before I went into it, since I had been hearing things on the news about people getting mad about the stuff about how Atticus wasn't as much of a "saint" as in To Kill a Mockingbird.
I'm inclined to think Go Set a Watchman is a bit of an alternate world of the book, since it was the original rejected version.

Last edited by Yitzock (February 21, 2016 2:54 pm)

**Posted by besleybean** February 21, 2016 3:00 pm

It seems strange that Lee would completely change her mind about Atticus...
So I remain undecided upon that one.