Word that reclusive author Harper Lee had written a second novel spread quickly through Monroeville on a Tuesday morning, turning an ordinary day in the small Monroe County town into a citywide celebration.
Lee, then 88 and known locally as “Miss Nelle,” released a statement through her publisher announcing that a new book, titled after a line from the Book of Isaiah, would arrive in bookstores that July. The novel was written before her Pulitzer Prize-winning classic about a young girl growing up in a fictional Alabama town closely modeled on Monroeville, and until the announcement, that earlier book had remained her only published work in more than half a century.
The original novel has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide and continues to move roughly a million copies a year, translated into dozens of languages. The newly announced book follows the same central character decades later, as she returns from New York to visit her aging father in the fictional town widely understood to be based on Monroeville.
Local leaders reacted with a mix of surprise and pride. The head of the Monroeville/Monroe County Chamber of Commerce described the morning as a whirlwind, noting that Lee’s legacy already draws steady tourism to the small town and that a new book would likely deepen that interest.
News of the announcement reached many residents informally, including the owner of a bookshop just off the town square who said her son called to tell her what he’d heard before it was confirmed publicly. The store, which has operated since 2012, keeps copies of Lee’s classic in stock year-round and regularly welcomes visitors drawn by the annual stage adaptation performed in Monroeville.
Lee, who had lived for years splitting time between New York and Monroeville, was residing in an assisted living facility in her hometown at the time of the announcement. The news came several months after her older sister and longtime attorney, who had shielded Lee from unwanted publicity for years, died in November at age 103.
The rediscovery of the manuscript was credited to a friend and attorney who had been reviewing Lee’s papers. Residents and local officials said the news was the talk of the town, with even casual conversations around Monroeville quickly turning to speculation about what the long-hidden manuscript might reveal.