It is a book that perhaps should never have been published.
The manuscript of Go Set a Watchman was first discovered during an appraisal of author Harper Lee’s assets in 2011. It was tucked away in a safe deposit box in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, US. Should it have remained there? Especially when Lee has maintained for years that she would never write another book again?
Lee is still alive, albeit 90, deaf and blind.
Allegations of exploiting the author in her old age created much controversy during the book’s release, especially as it occurred right after the recent death of her protective sister and caregiver.
Go Set a Watchman reads, at its best, like the first draft of Lee’s American classic and Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird. And it is!
After all, this was the manuscript she took to her editor Tay Hohoff, who guided Lee to rewrite the book. She urged her to write the story from a child’s perspective – a young Scout – with a focus on the trial of a wronged black man, forever establishing Atticus Finch as a solid, unwavering protector of rights across races, and a character everyone has come to know and love in Mockingbird.
According to theguardian.com, Hohoff, when explaining the journey of the story in an interview, said Watchman had “dangling threads of plot” and a “lack of unity”. But she recognised its spirit, and worked with Lee to create a classic from that original draft. So, was it fair to show the world Lee’s first attempt at Mockingbird by marketing it as a brand new novel?
In Watchman, Jean Louise is a far cry from the Scout she used to be. She is a preachy, annoying young woman whose ‘throat tightens’ much too often at the many affronts she sees. She is prone to delving into tedious monologues, and comes across as flighty and on edge most of the time.
The Atticus we know and love is transformed into something unexpected – a crotchety old southerner, who fraternises with other racist white men. Scout’s charming, beloved older brother Jem is dead – and that, I admit, should have been the moment I closed the book once and for all.
Through the course of the novel, Jean Louise’s father, her beau Henry and Uncle Jack convince her that they aren’t being racist (attending a pseudo-Ku Klux Klan meeting gave them away though) – just concerned about their own heritage and not very keen on black people meddling with self-governance or the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
So disappointment is on the cards, if you compare this book to the giant Mockingbird. But I don’t think Lee is to blame. This is the draft that allowed her to learn to write better, to find a voice… the one that led her to an American classic.
An independent bookstore in Michigan, US, called Brilliant Books, went so far as to offer customers a refund if they had bought Lee’s latest novel.
They issued a statement, saying: “We at Brilliant Books want to be sure that our customers are aware that Go Set A Watchman is not a sequel or prequel to To Kill A Mockingbird. Neither is it a new book. It is a first draft that was originally, and rightfully, rejected... It is disappointing and frankly shameful to see our noble industry parade and celebrate this as ‘Harper Lee’s New Novel’. This is pure exploitation of both literary fans and a beloved American classic. We therefore encourage you to view Go Set A Watchman with intellectual curiosity and careful consideration; a rough beginning for a classic, but only that.”
That about sums it up for me.
