Michael Nichols
asked:
Really...this was lost? She only wrote one other novel. I suspect this "newly found" manuscript has a back story and I doubt if it was lost.
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Go Set a Watchman,
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Iris
It was not lost. According to an article in Bloomburg Weekly, Lee kept it in a safe deposit box. The publishers knew about the manuscript for years but Lee did not want it published. It is only being published now because the people who control Lee's estate want to publish it. There are doubts that Lee gave permission to have this published.
Farseer
This is not a sequel of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's a very early draft of that novel. Fortunately, Lee rewrote it completely and changed the characters and events (for example, the outcome of Tom Robinson's trial is different), creating one wonderful and unforgettable novel. You can read that version with the title To Kill a Mockingbird.
Publishing Go Set a Watchman is just a money-making stunt by the people who control Lee's estate. It is nowhere near as well-written as TKAM and doesn't have the same powerful characters. It's only of interest for those who want to study Lee's creative process. If you are just a regular fan of TKAM, do yourself a favor and skip this one.
Publishing Go Set a Watchman is just a money-making stunt by the people who control Lee's estate. It is nowhere near as well-written as TKAM and doesn't have the same powerful characters. It's only of interest for those who want to study Lee's creative process. If you are just a regular fan of TKAM, do yourself a favor and skip this one.
Donna Smith
What I read regarding this book was that it was the first draft that Harper Lee turned into her publisher. The publisher said that the book needed to tell where the characters came from, how did they get to this point in time.
It needed more background on characters and relationships. So Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, same characters earlier in time.
It needed more background on characters and relationships. So Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, same characters earlier in time.
Terri Lynn
She wrote this one first in the mid 1950's when you typed manuscripts up on a manual typewriter and mailed them via snail mail and the publishers had metal file cabinets with paper files. She was not known then and publisher would have had this in the slush pile. That happens even today. She went on to write a prequel to this book that got published. They found this when cleaning out old manuscripts they has received in the old days. That is the only back story.
Gin
It wasn't that uncommon and still isn't. This was written before Harper wrote to kill a mocking bird so they may have not focused much attention on the manuscript not to mention being bogged down with thousands upon thousands of manuscripts they had received from other people. They may have stuffed it in a box with a few others and put it in the back of the room for the "maybe later pile."
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