Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

I'm not completely sure what to do about this review. I read the book before I knew the background and it gave me a range of very, very angry emotions. Then I read the background. It's very confusing to know what to say about it.

So. This book is ostensibly a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, set about 15 years later. Scout has been living in New York and comes back to visit Maycombe for couple of weeks each year. 

But it's not that simple. I found out afterwards that she wrote it before TKaM but decided not to publish it. There was a tiny section in it, a memory of a case that Atticus Finch defended, and she decided she wanted this to be the story after all. She wanted it to never be published but her family saw a money making opportunity and had it published against her wishes.

In it, Atticus is a racist old man. It's heartbreakingly awful to read if you don't know that it's not to be read in conjunction with TKaM. 

What would it be like if it the book was published as an entirely separate novel with different characters? I can't decide. It's so hard to not read it as an utter betrayal of Atticus Finch. If you read it as; daughter comes home, finds out father is dodgy old racist along with whole town and is horrified, decides to stay and challenge the attitudes of the community, you'd maybe end up hailing it alongside TKaM as a majorly important groundbreaking novel. But maybe not. It somehow doesn't do the same as TKaM. It doesn't hit as hard. You can totally see how Harper Lee didn't want it published.

There's some stand out shining moments. Jean Louise is a great, if incredibly naive, character. Breaking out of the standard female mould of the time. The memory flashbacks to her childhood are lovely but they do somehow feel like they're leading to something that never quite comes to being. It feels like there's something more to develop with the character Dill, her childhood friend, but it doesn't really go anywhere. 

There's a weird bit when Jean Louise goes to Calpurnia's (their servant) house in the black community. Something's going on. I should probably be able to work it out but I couldn't. It's like she crossed a line by going there and she wasn't welcome. There's more but I can't put my finger on it. I don't remember it (I read about it when reading into the background of this one) but there's a bit in TKaM where Scout (Jean Louise) wants to go to Calpurnia's house but isn't allowed. I guess it's reinforcing the idea of segregation maybe but from the point of view of the black community. So not exactly a segregation but a prevention of awkward interactions like when you see a teacher in a social situation and they can't be themselves anymore. But, I don't know, it felt like it was starting a thought that was never quite finished.

It's also described wonderfully. It makes the south sound beautiful and you can feel the heat and the sun when you're reading it. You want to sit by that river in the evening and go swimming with Henry and Scout.

It's sad. It feels like a missed opportunity. It feels like if she'd wanted to she could have developed this into another incredible story but she chose not to, leaving it feeling incomplete and unpolished somehow, and her family should have respected that. In conclusion. Don't read it. It's won't leave you feeling satisfied!