Go Set a Watchman, Leatherbound Edition

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published Oct. 27, 2015 by Harper.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-245481-2

No rating (1 review)

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch -- "Scout" -- returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past -- a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience. Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor, …

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch -- "Scout" -- returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past -- a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience. Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor, and effortless precision -- a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context, and new meaning to an American classic. - Jacket.

7 editions

Heather reviewed Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

Review of 'Go Set A Watchman' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

This was always going to be tricky. TKAM is a rite of passage as a young reader (my daughter read it aged 13 and was captivated from beginning to end). It captures the magic of childhood and leaves you feeling enriched (horrible word but it's the right one). I picked up GSAW knowing it couldn't be the same, but I wasn't sure how it would be different.

Scout is the protagonist. Essentially the story is of her inability to come to terms with the explicit tension that's grown in the South between the NAACP and the white community and how betrayed she feels by Atticus, who raised her to be so straight and colour blind but yet is reluctant to see the South run by "backward" "negroes" - both words used in the book. What Scout learns is that Atticus' lightning rod, his watchman, is his equal treatment of the …

This was always going to be tricky. TKAM is a rite of passage as a young reader (my daughter read it aged 13 and was captivated from beginning to end). It captures the magic of childhood and leaves you feeling enriched (horrible word but it's the right one). I picked up GSAW knowing it couldn't be the same, but I wasn't sure how it would be different.

Scout is the protagonist. Essentially the story is of her inability to come to terms with the explicit tension that's grown in the South between the NAACP and the white community and how betrayed she feels by Atticus, who raised her to be so straight and colour blind but yet is reluctant to see the South run by "backward" "negroes" - both words used in the book. What Scout learns is that Atticus' lightning rod, his watchman, is his equal treatment of the local black people in terms of manners and fairness in law, rather than necessarily believing that blacks and whites are completely equal in ability and level of civilization.

This book therefore is harsher than TKAM, but Scout, or Jean Louise as she's referred to, is recognisable and although this book was written before TKAM you can see the progression from its events to GSAW. Hand on heart I didn't enjoy it as much but I think it would have been impossible because it followed such a flawless book. I found it a bit rambly and waffly, but that's a particular pet hate of mine (espcially just having read The Little Parish Bookshop which was a waffly nightmare). It was lovely to meet Calpurnia and Atticus again and see that Scout was still the same person underneath. Some parts were very enjoyable, but I found Dr Finch really maddening. I could have done with less existential agony, but that's what this book is. I could see overlaps with The Help - Aunt Alexandra's 'Coffee' is brilliantly, awfully toe-curling.

In the end, sad to say, I was quite relieved to finish it, but I'm glad I read it.