East Markham Book Club
Go Set a Watchman
by Harper Lee
by Harper Lee
A landmark new novel from Harper Lee, set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird.
Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch – ‘Scout’ – returns home from New York City to visit her ageing 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 painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past – a journey that can be guided only by one’s own 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, humour 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 a classic.
Next Meeting Sunday 1st November 2020 at 7.30pm
Club Opinion
Many members were initially reluctant to embark upon this read for fear it would cast an unwelcome shadow over their love of To Kill A Mockingbird. Written as a first draft of Mockingbird, Watchman was abandoned then rekindled shortly before Lee’s death (some say she was pressured into releasing it). Thankfully our concerns were not realised as most enjoyed the read, though given the choice of the two, To Kill A Mockingbird will always remain at the top of the pile.
