Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel
By ALEXANDRA ALTER

For more than half a century, “To Kill a Mockingbird” has stood apart as a singular American literary masterpiece, a perennial best seller that has provoked countless classroom discussions about racial and social injustice. It brought instant and overwhelming fame to its enigmatic author, Harper Lee, who soon retreated from the spotlight to her native Monroeville, Ala. She never published another book, leaving her millions of fans yearning for more.

Now, at age 88, Ms. Lee has revealed that she wrote another novel after all — a sequel of sorts to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” featuring an aging Atticus Finch and his grown daughter, Scout.

On Tuesday, Ms. Lee’s publisher announced its plans to release that novel, recently rediscovered, which Ms. Lee completed in the mid-1950s, before she wrote “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The 304-page book, “Go Set a Watchman,” takes place 20 years later in the same fictional town, Maycomb, Ala., and unfolds as Jean Louise Finch, or Scout, the feisty child heroine of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” returns to visit her father. The novel, which is scheduled for release this July, tackles the racial tensions brewing in the South in the 1950s and delves into the complex relationship between father and daughter.

Although written first, “Go Set a Watchman” is a continuation of the same story, with overlapping themes and characters. But Ms. Lee abandoned the manuscript after her editor, who was captivated by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, told her to write a new book from the young heroine’s perspective and to set it during her childhood.

“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told,” Ms. Lee said in a statement released by her publisher.

That story became “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a classic that was adapted into a 1962 film and has sold more than 40 million copies globally since it was published in 1960. It continues to sell more than a million copies a year and has been translated into more than 40 languages.

The novel takes place during the Depression, as the young Scout and her family are swept up in the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Scout’s father, played by Gregory Peck in the film adaptation, represents the accused man at trial.

Despite pleas and prodding from readers and the literary establishment, Ms. Lee never published again.

Ms. Lee said she had thought the draft of “Go Set a Watchman” had been lost or destroyed. Then last fall, Tonja Carter, her friend and lawyer, discovered the manuscript in a secure place where Ms. Lee keeps her archives, attached to an original typed manuscript of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” According to Ms. Lee’s publisher, Ms. Carter didn’t understand what she had stumbled on at first, until she realized that the passages weren’t from Ms. Lee’s first and only novel.

Ms. Lee wasn’t immediately sold on the idea of releasing it but was persuaded after a handful of people read it and reassured her it was worth publishing.

“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,” she said.

Scholars have long been aware that Harper Lee wrote an earlier manuscript, but many thought it was an early version of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” not a separate story that unfolds 20 years later.

Charles J. Shields, the author of a biography of Ms. Lee that was published by Henry Holt in 2006, said he had come across references to “Go Set a Watchman” in Ms. Lee’s early correspondence with her literary agent. “’I figured it was an early draft of To Kill a Mockingbird.’ ” Mr. Shields said. He also saw references from Ms. Lee’s editor to repeated revisions of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” as she tried telling the story from three different perspectives.

Mr. Shields is skeptical that the new novel would hold up against ”To Kill a Mockingbird,” which was an instant classic when she published it at 34.

“We’re going to see what Harper Lee writes like without a strong editor’s hand, when she’s, quite honestly, an amateur,” Mr. Shields said. “It’s going to be very interesting to see how original it is. A lot was taken from ‘Go Set a Watchman’ for ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ and maybe those are the best parts.”

The book’s publisher, Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, plans to print two million copies of the new book and release it on July 14. The deal was negotiated by Michael Morrison, president and publisher of HarperCollins U.S. General Books Group and Canada, and Ms. Carter. Harper declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal.

“I, along with millions of others around the world, always wished that Harper Lee had written another book,” Mr. Morrison said in a statement. “And what a brilliant book this is.”

Some critics and observers expressed concern about whether Ms. Lee had played a meaningful role in approving the deal and questioned why, after a 55-year hiatus, she had suddenly decided to publish again.

Ms. Lee suffered a stroke in 2007 and has been living in an assisted-living facility. Her sister, Alice Lee, a lawyer who was her companion and her protector from public scrutiny, died last fall.

Marja Mills, who struck up a friendship with the Lee sisters and became their neighbor in 2004, said she wondered about Ms. Lee’s level of involvement.

“I have some concerns about statements that have been attributed to her,” said Ms. Mills, who had her own public standoff with Harper Lee over “The Mockingbird Next Door,” a memoir she published about her friendship with the Lees.

When that book was announced, Harper Lee released a statement through her lawyer saying she had not sanctioned Ms. Mills’s book or knowingly participated in it. But Alice Lee later wrote to Ms. Mills and said that both she and Harper Lee supported the book. In a letter dated May 12, 2011, one that was made public, Alice Lee told Ms. Mills that her sister “can’t see and can’t hear and will sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence.”

Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher of Harper, said that the company had never spoken directly to Ms. Lee about the book and had communicated with her solely through her lawyer, Ms. Carter, and her literary agent, Andrew Nurnberg. The statement Ms. Lee provided expressing her delight that the new novel will finally be published was delivered through her lawyer, Mr. Burnham said.

Mr. Burnham said the book would not be altered from the original manuscript. He said that he was “completely confident” that Ms. Lee approved of the deal and that speaking directly with Ms. Lee “wasn’t necessary.”

A receptionist at Ms. Carter’s law firm in Monroeville said Ms. Carter was “not taking any calls about the news release.”

Ms. Lee has shied away from public attention for decades, but she is fiercely protective of her image and legacy. She has been involved in a handful of lawsuits in recent years, in what has appeared to be an effort to protect her literary legacy and estate.

Ms. Lee has occasionally addressed the question of why she never published another book after “To Kill A Mockingbird.” She has said she found the publicity surrounding “To Kill a Mockingbird” overwhelming and that she had said all she had to say in that single work.

Mr. Nurnberg, Ms. Lee’s agent for international rights, said she had discussed her reservations about the new book with him. “She was a bit diffident at first and said, Is this really worth publishing right now?” he said. But during a recent visit with her in Monroeville, she also seemed “feisty,” he said, and in good spirits.

Mr. Nurnberg said she had taken issue with his description of the new book as a sequel.

He recalled, “She said: ‘This isn’t the sequel. This is the parent to ‘Mockingbird.’ ”

事隔55年 梅崗城作者在驚疑聲中出新書

美國出版公司哈潑科林斯周前宣布，以《梅崗城故事》成名的美國小說家哈波‧李 (Harper Lee)要出版她生平第二部小說。現在，文壇和讀者既喜又疑，並且熱辯88歲的哈波‧李心智如今到底是否健全。

各界熱辯未定，這304頁的第二部小說精裝本7月才要問世，接受預購，已登上亞馬遜暢銷榜首。

更有趣的是，她要出版的第二部小說，其實是她的律師從她舊紙堆中挖出來的，是60年前寫的一包手稿，當時一位出版社編輯要她重寫，她於是改寫兩年半，1960年出版，就是《梅崗城故事》 （To Kill a Mockingbird，又譯「殺死一隻知更鳥」），一夕紙貴，而且不只叫座，更叫好，榮膺次年普立茲小說獎，至今仍是美國課堂的標準讀物，譯成40多國文字，並曾改編成同名電影，葛雷哥來畢克四度入圍奧斯卡最佳男主角，1962年第五度入圍才以此作抱回小金人。

哈波‧李第二部小說叫《設立一個守望者》 （Go Set a Watchman），名稱典出聖經以賽亞書21:6以及62：6，書中好些角色和《梅崗城故事》相同。

「舊作成新書」引起興趣之外，文壇和許多讀者關心的，是作者的情況。哈波‧李2007年中風，視力不良，又耳聾，而且經常聲言永遠不再出書，而出版公司要推出她當年被退稿而棄置塵封的「少作」，她真樂意嗎？甚至，她知不知道這事？

哈波‧李遺俗避世，2007年以來住安養之家。曾有網路八卦引述她律師卡特去年7月的話說，哈波‧李有時候在文件上簽字，「不知道自己簽的是什麼」。換句話說，有人操縱哈波‧李圖利，她慒然不覺。

八卦不脛而走，卡特落得忙著闢謠，對《紐約時報》表示，對自己受人操縱之說，哈波‧李感到「極為受傷，認為是羞辱」。

卡特對紐時說，哈波‧李堅強、獨立、有智慧，應該樂見沉埋多年的舊作「出土」。接著，卡特上周公布他稍早一項聲明，告訴書迷，得知舊稿出書，哈波‧李「歡喜之至」。

英國《衛報》引述哈波‧李國際版權經紀人努恩堡說，他去年秋天見過她，今年1月又和她相處兩天，老作家「精神奕奕，而且逗趣」，聽聞舊作終見天日，非常高興。

1.《梅崗城故事》

《梅崗城故事》（To kill a Mockingbird），台灣取書中情節發生地，美國阿拉巴馬州梅崗（Maycomb），而作此名；大陸有的直用原名而作「殺死一隻知更鳥」。Mockingbird又稱「反舌鳥」或「仿聲鳥」。

故事背景在經濟大蕭條期間的美國南方小鎮梅崗，主人翁是六歲女孩思葛．芬鵸與哥哥傑姆，和喪妻的中年律師父親亞愓一家。全書使用芬鵸的第一人稱觀點；而主線是她十歲（1936）那年的鎮上大事。

亞愓被法院指定為強暴白人少女的黑人疑犯魯賓森辯護，自己連同家小因此受社會嗤笑。魯賓森明顯無辜，但卻被判死刑，越獄喪命。

此作已成美國現代文學經典，是教導寬容，反種族歧視、反偏見的上乘之作。哈波．李落筆此書之時，年方三十出頭，而風格成熟，觀察多面，對社會、人性、法律、風俗各層面認識精闢，寫來結構完整，筆力透紙，作品價值垂世，作者聲譽久傳，都其來有自。

《梅崗城故事》出版一年後，馬上就被翻譯成10種語言，到目前為止，小說已經賣出三千萬本，被翻譯為40多種語言。

《梅崗城故事》從未停止印刷，並成為很多學校必讀的小說。2008年的調查顯示，《梅崗城故事》在美國9-12年級的閱讀頻率最高。

1991年「每月一書俱樂部」（Book of the Month Club）和國會圖書館中心的調查顯示，《梅崗城故事》在「最常被引述」的圖書榜上僅次於《聖經》。

2.《設立一個守望者》

哈波．李要出版的第二部小說叫《設立一個守望者》，典出聖經《以賽亞書》，此語見於該書21：6和62：6，小說家取用的是21：6，「你去設立守望的，使他將所看見的述說」，亦即是守望者述說其所遇所感。

哈波．李的第二部小說，其實舊作變新書，是她的第一部，情況有點像蕭邦第二號鋼琴協奏曲以寫作時間論，應該是第一號，貝多芬第二號鋼琴協奏曲應該是第一號。

《設立一個守望者》寫於1950年代中期，比較像由一系列短篇故事合成，出版社編輯建議她重寫，成為《梅崗城故事》。哈波．李改寫之際，使用許多原有角色。

事隔一甲子，舊稿在2014年發現，出版公司現在將之原樣面世。

有趣的是，《梅崗城故事》的原身《設立一個守望者》，故事發生於《梅》書情節20年後，寫思葛從紐約返鄉探望父親。書名裡的「守望者」，指的是芬鵸的父親亞愓。

據出版社透露，這趟返鄉行，芬鵸感觸深，掙扎多，努力了解她的「守望者」父親對社會的態度，以及她自己對出生、成長之地的感受，而她的對外觀察與對內省思彼此交融，呈現個人、社會及政治的多重面貌。

《設立一個守望者》未出先暢銷，初刷預定二百萬本，作者年高88，深居簡出，據悉不作簽書之旅。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/books/harper-lee-author-of-to-kill-a-mockingbird-is-to-publish-a-new-novel.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.tmagazine.com/books/20150205/t05leeharper/zh-hant/

2015-02-10．聯合晚報．A5．焦點．編譯彭淮棟