Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: In Harper Lee's Hometown...AP

Thursday, February 5, 2015

In Harper Lee's Hometown...AP

Author's hometown excited, perplexed by 'Mockingbird' sequel

The Associated Press - By By JAY REEVES - Associated Press

February 4, 2015 9:36am

FILE - This March 14, 1963 file photo shows Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To kill a Mockingbird." Publisher Harper announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel Lee completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. It will be her second published book. (AP Photo, File)

1 of 3
FILE - In this 1962 file photo originally released by Universal, actor Gregory Peck is shown as attorney Atticus Finch, a small-town Southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape, in a scene from "To Kill a Mockingbird," based on the novel by Harper Lee. Lee and her publisher announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that this summer they’ll release the 88-year-old author’s second book, “Go Set the Watchmen,” a kind of sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” (AP Photo/Universal, File)

2 of 3
FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2007, file photo, Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To kill a Mockingbird," smiles during a ceremony honoring the four new members of the Alabama Academy of Honor at the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala. Publisher Harper announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel Lee completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. It will be her second published book. (AP Photo/Rob Carr, File)

3 of 3
FILE - This March 14, 1963 file photo shows Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To kill a Mockingbird." Publisher Harper announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel Lee completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. It will be her second published book. (AP Photo, File)

1 of 3
FILE - In this 1962 file photo originally released by Universal, actor Gregory Peck is shown as attorney Atticus Finch, a small-town Southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape, in a scene from "To Kill a Mockingbird," based on the novel by Harper Lee. Lee and her publisher announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that this summer they’ll release the 88-year-old author’s second book, “Go Set the Watchmen,” a kind of sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” (AP Photo/Universal, File)

2 of 3
FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2007, file photo, Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To kill a Mockingbird," smiles during a ceremony honoring the four new members of the Alabama Academy of Honor at the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala. Publisher Harper announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel Lee completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. It will be her second published book. (AP Photo/Rob Carr, File)

3 of 3
FILE - This March 14, 1963 file photo shows Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To kill a Mockingbird." Publisher Harper announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel Lee completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. It will be her second published book. (AP Photo, File)

1 of 3
FILE - In this 1962 file photo originally released by Universal, actor Gregory Peck is shown as attorney Atticus Finch, a small-town Southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape, in a scene from "To Kill a Mockingbird," based on the novel by Harper Lee. Lee and her publisher announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that this summer they’ll release the 88-year-old author’s second book, “Go Set the Watchmen,” a kind of sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” (AP Photo/Universal, File)

2 of 3
FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2007, file photo, Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To kill a Mockingbird," smiles during a ceremony honoring the four new members of the Alabama Academy of Honor at the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala. Publisher Harper announced Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel Lee completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. It will be her second published book. (AP Photo/Rob Carr, File)

3 of 3

MONROEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — In the small Alabama town author Harper Lee made famous with "To Kill a Mockingbird," the Southern classic novel can be seen and felt everywhere.

Signs in Monroeville are decorated with mockingbirds. The old courthouse, a model for the movie version of the book, is now a museum that sells souvenirs including coffee cups, aprons and Christmas ornaments. A statue in the town square and a mural decorating the side of a building depict characters who inhabited a fictional version of the town Lee called "Maycomb, Alabama."

So when it was announced Tuesday that Lee had written a second novel to be released this summer, Monroeville residents and visitors alike were pleased and excited — but they were also perplexed.

The first book centered on small-town attorney Atticus Finch, his children Scout and Jem, and racial injustice in the Jim Crow South. The new book, "Go Set a Watchman," is described as a sequel that Lee actually wrote in the 1950s before "To Kill a Mockingbird."

"I was really surprised," said Jillian Schultz, 28, who owns a business in the town square. "You know there's a lot of controversy about whether Harper Lee actually wrote the (first) book. There's been so many years in between, and you have to wonder, 'How did somebody forget about a book?'"

Located halfway between Montgomery and Mobile, Monroeville calls itself the "Literary Capital of Alabama," a designation bestowed by the state Legislature in the late 1990s. Besides Lee, the city was home to novelist Truman Capote and Pulitzer Prize-winning editorialist Cynthia Tucker.

For years, the town of 6,300 was known as the home of a huge Vanity Fair mill and outlet, but the factory shut down nearly 20 years ago. That left Monroeville with "Mockingbird" and its literary heritage to attract visitors off the nearest highway, Interstate 65, about 25 miles away.

2015 The Associated Press

Page 1 of 3