Harper Lee is publishing a "sequel" to 'To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee is publishing a "sequel" to 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' her first novel in more than 50 years

Earthshaking, mindboggling, mother-of-God literary news: Harper Lee, the reclusive author of the American classic To Kill a Mockingbird, is publishing her first novel in 55 years. Publisher Harper announced Tuesday that Go Set a Watchman, a novel "the Pulitzer Prize-winning author completed in the 1950s and put aside," will be released July 14, the Associated Press reports. + Lee's editor talked to New York magazine about the "new" book: "It's actually more of a prequel. She wrote it before To Kill a Mockingbird, but the new book takes place after the events of the book that was published." + "[Go Set a Watchman] features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort," Lee said in a statement issued by Harper. "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." + The Atlantic's Megan Garber finds some sadness in the sequel: "The announcement that the author will publish a new novel is thrilling to fans — but also contradicts what the author has long said she wants." + This feature on the slow decline of Harper Lee is a beautiful, masterful exposition of the removed author's interregnum years. Read it on the subway on your way to work today (or on the way home). + Good talk. We'll just leave you with Gregory Peck now: