Thanks John, I’m glad to have my brother weigh in on Watchman. Excellent points. I think quite a few readers and bloggers feel the same way.

Most serious writers would likely be rather appalled in later life to revisit their first works, published when they were young and their craft was developing. E.g. I think Salman Rushdie’s first novel was fantasy science fiction–and we don’t ever hear about that one.

Also, consider what was going in in US/southern society during the period when Lee wrote these two works. It is not inconceivable that her outlook evolved along with her writing skills between Watchman and Mockingbird.

There were many years after Mockingbird when Lee could have published Watchman had she wanted to do so, but she did not. In recent years I believe Mockingbird has still been generating $750K/year for Lee, so it’s unlikely she needed income from Watchman. Which all supports my comjecture about the source of the impetus for publishing the earlier work.

So there is another possible way to think about Watchman.

Thanks Sarah. I think you would like the novel Pioneer Girl if you like all things Laura Ingalls Wilder. 🙂 It pays homage to her and her daughter Rose. I finally finished Americanah — I mostly liked it, but thought it could’ve been a bit shorter. And I think quite a few agree with you on the point about Harper Lee’s Watchman.

Yeah I know what you mean Ti about reading blogs etc. Little time, so thanks for visiting. This is my book club’s first time with Adichie so I hope it brings good discussion. I like how readable she is and I will check out her two earlier novels at some point. This one is mostly about race issues.

Thanks Michelle. Harper’s legacy is definitely more complex now. I wonder — I’m sure they would have found and published it even after her death. Hmm.

Thanks Jane : you make excellent points about both being first drafts; what an interesting comparison. So glad too that you let me know about the LIW books. I would like to read the Annotated Pioneer Girl sometime.

I have been a little out of it lately with a cold so I am trying to catch up with all of my blog reading. It’s funny how fast a week goes by when it comes to reading blogs and yet, my work day seems to last forever and a day.

With regards to Go Set a Watchman–my belief is that it should not have been published as a “real” novel. It was a rejected first draft and should have been treated as archived material for understanding Harper Lee as a novelist. I think it was disrespectful of her and I do feel that she was taken advantage of in her declining years. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be available but it was marketed as something it is not and that feels really wrong.

On the flip side, LIW’s Pioneer Girl was also a rejected first draft, and reading it without context and annotation would not be helpful. I’m glad the Pioneer Girl was not treated as Go Set a Watchman was.