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The novel was released on July 14, 55 years after the
author's only other published work, "To Kill a Mockingbird," a
classic story of racial injustice in the American South.
"Watchman," written in the 1950s, was a first draft of
"Mockingbird" with many of the same characters. It made
headlines with its depiction of noble lawyer Atticus Finch as a
racist and bigot, a stark contrast to the idealistic, younger
Finch of "Mockingbird" who put his principles on the line to
defend a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman.
HarperCollins, a unit of News Corp, said on Monday it had
ordered reprints several times and now has a North American
print run for 'Watchman' of more than 3.3 million. It did not
give sales figures or print runs for the rest of the world.
"First week sales of 'Go Set a Watchman' have far exceeded our
expectations,” Brian Murray, president and CEO of HarperCollins
Publishers said in a statement. “We are thrilled to see readers
responding to this historic new work from an iconic author like
Harper Lee.”
Lee, now 89, withdrew from public life shortly after the success
of "Mockingbird" and the 1962 Oscar-winning film version
starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Susan Heavey)
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