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School of Law Logo11:53am 03/08/2025

Second Harper Lee Novel To Be Published In July

More than 50 years after “To Kill a Mockingbird” was published, a second Harper Lee novel is set to be released in July.

“Go Set a Watchman,” a novel completed in the 1950s, will be released July 14. Rediscovered last year, the work is essentially a sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” although it was finished earlier, according to The Washington Post.

“In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called ‘Go Set a Watchman,’” the former Alabama law student said in a statement issued by the publisher. “It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’) from the point of view of the young Scout.

“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn’t realized it (the original book) had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”
HarperCollins Publishers plans a first printing of 2 million copies of the 304-page book.

Five years ago, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of “To Kill A Mockingbird” and to honor Lee, The University of Alabama School of Law and the ABA Journal partnered to award the first Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. Past winners were: The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly, Havana Requiem by Paul Goldstein and Sycamore Row by John Grisham.

For more, read “Second Harper Lee Novel To Be Published In July.”