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02-06-2015, 12:19 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/books/harper-lee-says-shes-excited-for-new-novel.html
Harper Lee has issued a new statement expressing her happiness with the publication of her second novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” amid growing speculation that the fiercely private novelist may have been pressured into signing over publication rights for the book.
“I’m alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions to ‘Watchman,’ ” Ms. Lee, 88, said in a statement that she is said to have given to her lawyer, Tonja Carter, on Wednesday when Ms. Carter visited her at an assisted-living facility in Monroeville, Ala.
Ms. Carter, who has declined interview requests, delivered the new remarks to Ms. Lee’s international literary agent, Andrew Nurnberg, who sent it to her publisher in Britain.
The emphatic statement from the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” arrived as some fans, biographers and scholars expressed excitement and skepticism over Ms. Lee’s involvement in the decision to publish another book.
More than 50 years after “To Kill a Mockingbird” was published, it remains one of the most beloved and influential works in American literature, and many of Ms. Lee’s fans and readers rejoiced at the news that she would finally publish another book. “Go Set a Watchman,” which will be released in July, shot to No. 1 on Amazon, and “To Kill a Mockingbird” climbed to No. 3.
But some scholars and people who knew her in Monroeville remained suspicious about the circumstances of the book’s publication. Ms. Lee, who had a stroke in 2007, has trouble seeing and has almost completely lost her hearing. She recently put Ms. Carter, a longtime family friend, in charge of her estate.
Some Monroeville residents said they had long suspected that Ms. Lee had written another book, but expressed surprise that she had consented to publishing one now.
Sue Sellers, who lived near Ms. Lee’s home for 48 years and frequently visited with her, said Ms. Lee had often expressed her reservations about publishing a second book and said she feared it would be compared unfavorably to “Mockingbird.”
Karen Hare, the owner of David’s Catfish House on the edge of Monroeville, said Ms. Lee had remarked several times during her visits that were she ever to publish another book, she would want it done posthumously.
“People knew about the book, but never for sure,” Ms. Hare said. “She always said she didn’t want anything done until she died.”
Other people who have seen Ms. Lee more recently say that she is physically frail but completely lucid. Mr. Nurnberg described her as “feisty” when he visited her this month. He said that while she was “indeed hesitant” to publish the book, she had been persuaded by a close circle of people who had read it and assured her that it stood up to her monumental first book.
Wayne Flynt, an Alabama author and historian who has been close friends with Ms. Lee for more than a decade, said she was as sharp as ever when he visited her on Monday, quoting lines from “Macbeth.”
“I don’t think that anybody that says she’s demented has been to see her in the last 10 years,” Mr. Flynt said. “The problem may be that almost nobody goes to see her, almost nobody gets in. She’s such a private person.”
Harper Lee has issued a new statement expressing her happiness with the publication of her second novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” amid growing speculation that the fiercely private novelist may have been pressured into signing over publication rights for the book.
“I’m alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions to ‘Watchman,’ ” Ms. Lee, 88, said in a statement that she is said to have given to her lawyer, Tonja Carter, on Wednesday when Ms. Carter visited her at an assisted-living facility in Monroeville, Ala.
Ms. Carter, who has declined interview requests, delivered the new remarks to Ms. Lee’s international literary agent, Andrew Nurnberg, who sent it to her publisher in Britain.
The emphatic statement from the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” arrived as some fans, biographers and scholars expressed excitement and skepticism over Ms. Lee’s involvement in the decision to publish another book.
More than 50 years after “To Kill a Mockingbird” was published, it remains one of the most beloved and influential works in American literature, and many of Ms. Lee’s fans and readers rejoiced at the news that she would finally publish another book. “Go Set a Watchman,” which will be released in July, shot to No. 1 on Amazon, and “To Kill a Mockingbird” climbed to No. 3.
But some scholars and people who knew her in Monroeville remained suspicious about the circumstances of the book’s publication. Ms. Lee, who had a stroke in 2007, has trouble seeing and has almost completely lost her hearing. She recently put Ms. Carter, a longtime family friend, in charge of her estate.
Some Monroeville residents said they had long suspected that Ms. Lee had written another book, but expressed surprise that she had consented to publishing one now.
Sue Sellers, who lived near Ms. Lee’s home for 48 years and frequently visited with her, said Ms. Lee had often expressed her reservations about publishing a second book and said she feared it would be compared unfavorably to “Mockingbird.”
Karen Hare, the owner of David’s Catfish House on the edge of Monroeville, said Ms. Lee had remarked several times during her visits that were she ever to publish another book, she would want it done posthumously.
“People knew about the book, but never for sure,” Ms. Hare said. “She always said she didn’t want anything done until she died.”
Other people who have seen Ms. Lee more recently say that she is physically frail but completely lucid. Mr. Nurnberg described her as “feisty” when he visited her this month. He said that while she was “indeed hesitant” to publish the book, she had been persuaded by a close circle of people who had read it and assured her that it stood up to her monumental first book.
Wayne Flynt, an Alabama author and historian who has been close friends with Ms. Lee for more than a decade, said she was as sharp as ever when he visited her on Monday, quoting lines from “Macbeth.”
“I don’t think that anybody that says she’s demented has been to see her in the last 10 years,” Mr. Flynt said. “The problem may be that almost nobody goes to see her, almost nobody gets in. She’s such a private person.”