Annapolis Bookstore Gears Up for Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman'

By DEB BELT and MARC TORRENCE

“Since Atlanta, she had looked out the dining-car window with a delight almost physical.”

So begins the most-anticipated novel perhaps in the history of publishing in the United States. Harper Lee’s ”Go Set a Watchman” goes on sale Tuesday, July 14, and the first chapter was released Friday, adding another layer of excitement to the frenzy of media coverage that has accompanied the publication of Lee’s first book in 55 years.

The release is not without its fair share of controversy, with a different characterization of hero Atticus Finch shown in this book than in Lee’s only other published work, the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Still, booksellers across the country are excited for the novel.

The Annapolis Bookstore, 35 Maryland Ave., plans to hold a Harper Lee Party at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Shop owners will treat customers to Lane Cake and Sweet Tea as mentioned in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” plus some surprise activities.

Admission is $5 per person.

And, of course, there will be copies of “Go Set a Watchman” for sale at the store.

Lee’s new novel takes place about 20 years after the events of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” which won a Pulitzer Prize and is regarded as one of the greatest works in the history of American literature.

The new novel, like the old, is told from the point of view of Scout Finch. Chapter One follows Scout as she journeys home to Maycomb, Alabama, from New York City.

Without giving away plot points or spoilers, a few updates to some characters and events already have some readers surprised and upset.

Lee, now 89, still lives in Monroeville, Alabama, the town for which fictional Maycomb is modeled. With her health declining, many have questioned whether she was competent enough to approve the release of the manuscript, which was found by her lawyer in 2014.

The state of Alabama opened an elder-abuse investigation against Lee’s lawyer, Tonja B. Carter, but found Lee was capable of giving consent to the publication of the novel.

Read the first chapter of Go Set A Watchman here, accompanied by audio of a passenger rail rolling along its tracks.

Image courtesy Harper Collins