Of Convictions, Growing Pains and Mockingbirds

It's such a pleasure to find a book that stays with you long after turning the last page, one that introduces characters you fall in love with, who stay in your head. I recently finished one of those books, Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman, which she first submitted to her publisher in the mid-1950s, before To Kill a Mockingbird. The manuscript was discovered late last year, after having been presumed lost.

There was of course much hype surrounding the release, and I purposely avoided all reviews and conversation with anyone who'd already read it, wanting to go in with no preconceived notions or expectations. I needn't have worried; Watchman will live up to the expectations of Lee's most ardent fans. Her ability to tell a story that captivates and charms the reader is why Mockingbird has permanent residence on so many must-read lists. Yes, I know I’m "supposed" to love Lee's perennial bestseller, and contrary to my sometimes obstinate nature, I do.  I know very little about the South, and have never set foot in Alabama, but I was drawn in on page one. I'll wager that ten different readers will give ten different reasons why they fell in love with six-year-old Scout when they first met her. Besides her being a scrappy little tom-boy who hated wearing dresses (like a certain blogger, although for the record, I never beat up boys twice my size), it was her fierce love and admiration for her father that really endeared her to me.

In Go Set a Watchman, we get to know Scout, or Jean Louise as she's now known, as a young woman of 26, living by herself in New York City. She comes home to Maycomb to visit Atticus, in his 70s but still practicing law, and is confronted by the inevitability of change as civil rights tensions and political turmoil are transforming the South of her childhood. She also learns harsh truths about her family and her town. Childhood memories give us further insight into the Finch family while they cause Jean Louise to question her assumptions and illusions of the past. Challenging her convictions and those of her nearest and dearest sets her on a path she must navigate alone.

Watchman is now next to Mockingbird on a bookshelf. I know I'll want to re-read it at some point, but not for a while; Jean Louise won't be leaving me any time soon.