The state of Alabama has closed an investigation into allegations that the novelist Harper Lee, 88, was a victim of elder abuse in connection with the planned publication of a new novel bearing her name.
The state department of human resources has declared the allegations to be unfounded, according to a report that appeared first in the Wall Street Journal. Last month, the Alabama securities commission closed its own investigation into Lee’s condition.
HarperCollins, a News Corp company, is set to issue Lee’s new novel, Go Set a Watchman, in July, 55 years after the appearance of To Kill a Mockingbird. The new book is said to follow the story of Scout, the Mockingbird heroine, as an adult.
According to an earlier statement by the publisher, issued in Lee’s name, the manuscript for the new novel was discovered by Lee’s lawyer and apparent literary executor, Tonja Carter.
In February, an effort by the Guardian to contact Carter in person in Monroeville, Alabama – the hometown she shares with Lee – was denied.
Lee, who suffered a stroke in 2007, lives in a modest assisted-living home in Monroeville. In a statement released by HarperCollins coinciding with the announcement of the new book, Lee called Carter “my dear friend and lawyer”.
To Kill A Mockingbird is widely taught in high school English courses and remains one of the most beloved works of 20th century American fiction. Three months before its release, the new Harper Lee title is already billed on Amazon as a No 1 bestseller in classic literature and fiction.
