Go Set a Watchman - review

Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee


'Remember this also: it's always easy to look back and see what we were, yesterday, ten years ago. It is hard to see what we are. If you can master that trick, you'll get along.'


Harper Lee's classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, was published in 1960 and became an instant classic. It is certainly one of my all-time favourites. Go Set a Watchman was published in 2015 and is set ten years after To Kill a Mockingbird although Harper Lee wrote it earlier.

Go Set a Watchman continues the story of Scout Finch (now known as Jean Louise because she has grown up) as she returns to her childhood hometown of Maycomb to visit her father, Atticus. Anyone who has read To Kill a Mockingbird will admit to feeling the utmost admiration for the character of Atticus; a man of courage, dignity and integrity. It is the portrayal of the character of Atticus in Go Set a Watchman that caused a great deal of controversy when the book was published. A number of readers were disappointed that Atticus seemed to be fallible or weren't convinced that aspects of his character (one in particular) were believable. I, however, thought it was a sympathetic and realistic picture of how the character from To Kill a Mockingbird would have developed within the context of the time and place he lived in.

Harper Lee uses third person narration in Go Set a Watchman instead of the first person narrative voice of Scout that she used in To Kill a Mockingbird, but the flavour of Scout's voice is still there. As I was reading I could hear the voices of Scout, Jean Louise and Harper Lee as the same in my imagination and I had difficulty separating the characters (and,indeed, the author) even though the narrative style is different in each novel.

The book made me smile, laugh out loud and cry real tears in places. It is absolutely hilarious in its description of childhood escapades and teenage hi-jinks and angst, and brutal and compelling in its depiction of the realisations and truths that growing up can reveal about the world and those around you. Humour, politics and relationships can be a very powerful combination.

I loved Go Set a Watchman and I think you should read it. But only after you have read To Kill a Mockingbird. This is because, as your English teacher, I believe you should all read To Kill a Mockingbird. I believe everyone should.

Truly, I feel privileged to have read both books by this gifted and insightful author.

Mrs S