In early February, an announcement shocked the literary world. Another novel by Harper Lee was set to be published by HarperCollins on July 14, 2015. Go Set a Watchman was written in 1957, three years before To Kill a Mockingbird was written.

This summary is for those who aren't familiar with the 1961Pulitzer-winning To Kill a Mockingbird: Two white children, Scout and Jem, experience the fallout of their lawyer father defending an innocent black man accused of rape in the 1930's.

Go Set a Watchman is different, yet just as compelling. Jean Louise (Scout) returns to Maycomb as an adult. She questions all she holds dear when she learns her father supports segregation.
With this news, the media and fans began to talk. Fans faced a conundrum on many levels. Did Nelle Harper Lee approve of the book's publication? Will they be disappointed? Will their hero, Atticus, fall from the perfection?

Now that I've read the book, I've been asked to share my opinion of Go Set a Watchman.

10 Things You Need to Know About Go Set a Watchman

1. Nelle Harper Lee, now age 89, does not want attention. Though she is not a recluse like Boo Radley, she has removed herself from all spotlights. She does not grant interviews and has not for decades. This makes it hard to know her wishes regarding publication. (I highly recommend the Harper Lee biography, Mockingbird to help you understand this.) Harper Lee is nearly blind and is very hard of hearing. Communication is difficult. Yet, in this 13-minute video we see a glimpse of Lee's reaction to publication.
2. Watchman was published 58 years after it was written.
3. Apparently a few knew about this book, but Lee didn't want it published until after her death according to this article. Her sister and legal advisor, Alice, died in November 2014, two months after the manuscript was found. Some say this book would never have been published under Alice's watch. This article seems to offer the most hope that Harper Lee approved of its publication. 
4. Go Set a Watchman was published as it was written. It was not edited. Readers with a critical eye may notice; most will not. It is similar to Mockingbird's style, yet its flow is not as strong. (At this point, I think it was wise of HarperCollins to publish it as is; otherwise reviewers and fans would blame the editors for the book being anything but perfect.)
5. Watchman was written for adults. (Mockingbird was written for an adult audience, as well. Readers changed it to the young adult market.) 
6. Go Set a Watchman was written three years prior to Mockingbird's publication but is set 20 years after. Publishers initially rejected it.
7. Go Set a Watchman wouldn't be significant without Mockingbird. It is an excellent companion book though I understand why publishers weren't interested initially. A wise editor told her to use the flashbacks in Watchman to write another novel. Obviously, she did.
8. Jean Louise, as she is now called in Watchman, is still Scout. She has a temper, swears, and smokes. More than that, she is loyal and passionate.
9. Atticus Finch is a hero in Mockingbird. He does the right thing when no one else would. Watchman reminds readers he is a man. (This is many people's biggest difficulty in reading this book or wondering if they should. For me, I had to stop wondering and just read it.)
10. Watchman proves to be an eye-opener about segregation, especially for northerners regarding southerners' attitudes, as noted in the video above.
11. Fans may not get what they want in Watchman. It will satisfy some and disappoint others. Yet I still recommend it for fans of the book To Kill a Mockingbird. It will make you think deeply- even more than Mockingbird.
12. And a warning. The "n" word is used heavily throughout the book.

Go Set a Watchman Review

"The one human being she had ever fully and wholeheartedly trusted had failed her; the only man she had ever known to whom she could point and say with expert knowledge, 'He is a gentleman, in his heat he is a gentleman,' had betrayed her, publicly, grossly, and shamelessly."

"Now she was aware of a sharp apartness, a separation, not from Atticus and Henry merely. All of Maycomb and Maycomb County were leaving her as the hours passed, and she atuomatically blamed herself."

I'm still digesting it, but suffice it to say Jean Louise church experience makes me uncomfortbable. Not that any Christian experience is perfect, but hers seems filled with inconsistencies and misunderstandings. Much of the book discusses Jean Louise's experiences with things related to God. Even the title comes from a verse in the Bible.

"For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth."    ~ Isaiah 21: 6 (KJV)

I appreciated how the conclusion addressed part of this problem. That's all I can say. (I will state it had nothing to do with a conversion or faith acknowledgement.)

But you should know, the "n" word a lot. It was hard for me.

I had great reservations about reading Go Set a Watchman. Now, I'm glad I did. It made me think.

I was disappointed that no foreword was included. Nothing within the book tells the reader of its history.

Recommendations

In addition to To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, I also recommend Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles Shields and The Mockingbird Parables: Transforming Lives Through the Power of Story by Matt Litton.

Your Thoughts

~ Annette
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