Go Set a Watchman is a novel by Harper Lee published on July 14, 2015, by Harper Collins in the United States and William Heinemann in the United Kingdom. Although publicized as a sequel, it is actually the first draft (Lee herself referred to it as the "parent") of her first and only other published novel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). The title comes from Isaiah 21:6: "For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth." It alludes to Jean Louise Finch's view of her father, Atticus Finch, as the moral compass ("watchman") of Maycomb,and has a theme of disillusionment, as she realizes the extent of the bigotry in her home community.
The book's unexpected and controversial discovery, decades after it was written, together with the exceptional renown of the author's only other book, an American classic, caused its publication to be highly anticipated; Amazon stated that it was their "most pre-ordered book" since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007, and stores arranged all-night openings from midnight to cope with expected demand
According to the publisher, Jean Louise "is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father's attitude toward society and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood. Go Set a Watchman shows early versions of many of the characters who later appear in To Kill a Mockingbird.
The novel follows a woman in her twenties, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, who travels from New York to the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, to visit her family. The early sections of the book deal with her return and incidents around town as she reconnects with her aunt Alexandra, her uncle Jack, a retired doctor, and her father Atticus, a lawyer and former state legislator. Aside from this visit, the central reconnection is with a childhood friend and suitor, Henry "Hank" Clinton, who lived across the street and now works with her father. The Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education decision and the NAACP are introduced as being controversial in the community.
Returning from a trip to her ancestral home, Jean Louise and Henry are passed by a car of Negroes travelling dangerously at high speed. Henry mentions that the Negroes in the county now have money for cars but neglect to get licenses and insurance. The next day is spent dealing with the minor scandal a swim the previous evening has caused, and there are flashbacks to Jean Louise's youth, spent with another neighbor friend, Charles Baker "Dill" Harris, and her older brother Jeremy "Jem" Finch, who has since died of a heart condition which also killed her mother.
After finding a pamphlet titled "The Black Plague" among her father's papers, Jean Louise follows him to a Citizens’ Council meeting where Atticus introduces a man who delivers a racist speech. Jean Louise watches in secret from the balcony and is horrified. In a flashback to her youth, her father successfully defends a one-armed Negro against a rape allegation. She can't forgive that he has now betrayed her and flees the hall.
After having a dream about her old family Negro maid Calpurnia, whom she sees as a mother figure, Jean Louise has breakfast with her father. They soon learn that Calpurnia's grandson killed a drunk pedestrian the previous night while speeding in his car. Atticus agrees to take the case in order to stop the NAACP from getting involved. Jean Louise visits Calpurnia and is treated politely but coldly, causing her to leave, devastated.
At lunch with her Uncle Jack, Jean Louise questions why Atticus was at the meeting. Jack says that Atticus hasn't suddenly become racist but is trying to slow federal government intervention into state politics. Her uncle lectures her on the complexity of history, race, and politics in the South, trying to get Jean Louise to come to a conclusion, which she struggles to grasp. She has a flashback to when she was a teenager and recalls an incident where Atticus planted the seed for an idea in Henry's brain, then let him come to the right conclusion on his own.
While having coffee with Henry, Jean Louise tells him she doesn't love him and will never marry him. She expresses her disgust at seeing him and her father at the council meeting. Henry explains that sometimes people have to do things they don't want to do. She screams that she could never live with a hypocrite, only to notice that Atticus is standing behind them, smiling.
During a discussion with his daughter, Atticus argues that the Negroes of the South are not ready for full civil rights, and the Supreme Court's decision was unconstitutional and irresponsible. Although Jean Louise agrees that the South is not ready to be fully integrated, she says the court was pushed into a corner by the NAACP and had to act. She is confused and devastated by her father's positions as they are contrary to everything he has ever taught her.
She returns to the family home furious and packs her things. As she is about to leave town, her uncle comes home and tells her to think of all the things that have happened over the past two days and how she has processed them. When she says she can now stand them, he tells her it is bearable because she is her own person. He says that at one point she had fastened her conscience to her father's, assuming that her answers would always be his answers. Her uncle tells her that Atticus was letting her break her idols so that she could reduce him to the status of a human being.
Jean Louise returns to the office and makes a date with Henry for the evening. She reflects that Maycomb has taught him things she had never known and rendered her useless to him except as his oldest friend. She goes to apologize to Atticus, but he tells her how proud of her he is. He hoped that she would stand for what she thinks is right. She reflects that she didn't want her world disturbed but that she tried to crush the man who is trying to preserve it for her. She tells him that she thinks she loves him very much. As she follows him to the car, she silently welcomes him to the human race, seeing him as just a man for the first time.
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