A new Harper Lee novel is being released this summer. Don’t worry, we’ll wait a moment while you lose your minds ...
Ready? All good? Here are the details:
The reported title is Go Set a Watchman and the novel will focus on Mockingbird’s main character, Scout Finch, as an adult. The 304-page novel was completed in the 1950s, before the publication of Lee’s only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In a statement, Lee noted that her editor was taken with the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood and persuaded her to write what we now know as To Kill a Mockingbird.
For this bit of literary fortune, we are forever indebted to Lee’s “dear friend and lawyer” Tonya Carter, who discovered the manuscript, which Lee didn’t know had survived. Carter’s role in Lee’s life has been the subject of controversy in their hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.
While the title looks to be established, Twitter, as it is wont to do, quickly reacted with a profusion of alternative titles. As expected, there were Hunger Games references:
To Kill a Mockingjay
— Jess Zimmerman (@j_zimms) February 3, 2015
To Kill A Mockingjay will be set in the aftermath of the Hunger Games series, as Katniss' daughter Scout deals with racism in the districts
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) February 3, 2015
To Kill a Mockingjay? Lee's 2nd book grew out of Hunger Games fanfic. #tokillamockingbird
— Abby Matousek (@AbbyMato) February 3, 2015
(Editor’s note: this is blasphemy.)
There were also an abundance of references to infamous movie titles:
to kill a mockingbird 2: electric boogaloo
— Jazmine Hughes (@jazzedloon) February 3, 2015
To Kill a Mockingbird 2: Mock Harder.
— Brian Truitt (@briantruitt) February 3, 2015
2 Kill 2 Mockingbird
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) February 3, 2015
A lot of people made that joke.
Really looking forward to "To Kill a Mockingbird, Too: Revenge of the Mockingbird” you guys.
— Dan Wade (@Dwade) February 3, 2015
And, considering the half-century wait, a particularly appropriate musical reference:
Harper Lee is finally going to publish her second novel, "Chinese Demockingbird."
— Josh Gondelman (@joshgondelman) February 3, 2015
The best entry may be from Twitter’s resident illustration wizard, Darth:
can't wait tbh #HarperLee pic.twitter.com/lTRfWuoQss
— darth™ (@darth) February 3, 2015
