He's the epitome of the moral compass,' said Cher Caldwell, a 43-year-old English teacher from Kentucky. I'm reserving opinion, but I'm ready to be mad. Go Set a Watchman's 1st chapter stuns fans with bombshell plot twistĬBC BOOKS: Inside the secret life of Harper Leeīut at the same time, there was trepidation, and disbelief, that Finch, the courtly model of integrity who in the 1930s defended a wrongly accused black man in Mockingbird, is portrayed as a racist 20 years later in Watchman.The town has a full day of celebrations including readings, walking tours and a mint julep cocktail hour outside the old courthouse.

(Brynn Anderson/Associated Press)Īn Atticus Finch impersonator, with glasses and a briefcase, entertained the crowd, a few of whom came dressed as characters from the book. 'I'm so excited, I'm shaking,' May, 51, said as she walked outside the bookstore with her hardback treasure.Ītticus Finch impersonator Eric Richardson, left, entertains literature fans who gathered outside the Ol' Curiosities & Book Shoppe during the midnight book launch of the new Harper Lee novel Go Set a Watchman in Monroeville, Ala. Judy May and her sister Julia Stroud drove back to their hometown of Monroeville, Ala., and snatched up the first two copies as Go Set a Watchman went on sale at midnight.

James's Fifty Shades series and biographies of Steve Jobs, Chris Hadfield and Bobby Orr.

Pre-orders have already made Go Set a Watchman one of the year's top books and did not let up despite lukewarm reviews and some unwelcome news about Atticus Finch, one of literatures all-time heroes.Īccording to officials at Canada's Indigo Books, the initial sales of Go Set a Watchman have exceeded first-day sales of recent bestsellers, including E.L.

Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman: A cheat sheetīooksellers from Cambridge, Mass., to Downers Grove, Ill., opened at midnight Tuesday, while other stores began selling copies at 7 a.m., hours earlier than usual.

Harper Lee fans worldwide stayed up late, awoke early and dashed off during meal breaks Tuesday to pick up a copy of the year's most anticipated novel, Go Set a Watchman, a second work from the author of To Kill a Mockingbird that once seemed impossible.

To kill a mockingbird second book